®hfob(\ical  ^cnunavji 


I'h'jycj-rros.  n.  ■/. 


No.  Ca^i.     D 


No.  Sh(ij\ 
tNo.  Bool,: 


'Sec 


The  John   M.   Krol.s  Donation. 


sec 


^  i 


.r^ammiiit^-. 


1 


THE 


DESTINIES 


BRITISH     EMPIRE, 


DUTIES  OF  BRITISH  CHRISTIANS 


AT  THE  PRESExNT  CRISIS. 


BY   WILLIAM   THORP. 


FROM  THE  SECOND  LO?fDO]N'  EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
ORRIN  ROGERS,  G7  SOUTH  SECOND  STREET. 

E.  G.  Dorscy,  Printer. 

184L 


PREFACE 

TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  repeated  applications  made  during  the  last  few  years 
for  the  present  Work,  the  original  copies  of  which  were  all 
disposed  of  in  a  short  time  from  the  date  of  its  publication, 
have  induced  the  Widow  of  the  late  Rev.  William  Thorp 
to  venture  on  printing  a  Second  Edition.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Author  would  himself  have  undertaken  this  business,  had 
not  the  pressing  duties  of  his  ministry,  and  the  declining  health 
which  preceded  his  removal  by  death,  in  INIay,  1S33,  interfered 
to  prevent.  The  work  is  therefore  placed  before  its  readers 
without  any  important  alteration,  excepting  only  in  form  and 
price,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  those  persons  who  are 
anxious  to  procure  it,  and  in  reliance  on  the  conviction  that  the 
demand  for  it  will  be  much  augmented,  when  it  is  known  to 
be  obtainable.  There  are,  however,  other  circumstances  which 
induce  the  belief,  that  an  acceptable  service  will  be  rendered 
to  the  religious  public,  by  its  re-issue.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that,  since  the  date  of  its  first  appearance,  the  views  thereia 
advocated  have  derived  additional  importance  and  interest  in 
the  public  eye,  from  the  accession  of  a  large  number  of  pious 
individuals  to  the  class  of  thinkers  who  hold  the  same  opinions 
with  the  Author,  particularly  from  among  the  friends  of  the 
Churcli  of  England;  and  the  course  of  political  events  has 
certainly  contributed  not  a  little  to  strengthen  a  persuasion  of 
their  truth.  The  return  of  the  Catholics  to  a  participation  of 
political  power  was  always  regarded  by  the  Author  with  a  feel- 
ing of  melancholy  foreboding,  as  to  the  consequences  which  it 
was  likely  to  have  on  the  religious  interests  of  the  country. 
Now  it  matters  not  to  what  other  unseen  influence  the  increase 
of  their  numbers,  and  the  high  tone  of  confidence  they  are 
assuming  may  be  more  immediately  due;  but  certain  it  is,  that 
the  measure  in  question  has  largely  contributed  its  share,  and 
■still  more  the  very  considerable  countenance  which,  in  the 
shape  of  conciliation  and  concession,  is  now  openly  accorded 


jy  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 

to  them,  the  almost  inevitable  consequence  of  the  first  false 
step.  So  far,  it  is  demonstratively  proved,  that  his  fears  were 
not  without  a  rational  foundation;  and  although  it  is  useless  to 
reflect  on  what  is  past,  with  a  view  to  re-stir  the  spirit  of  con- 
troversy on  this  much-debated  question,  yet  as  all  are  deplor- 
ing the  existence  of  the  widely-spreading  evil,  and  as  it  is 
incumbent  upon  Protestant  Christians  to  strive  to  find  a  reme- 
dy, the  circulation  of  this  Volume  may  not,  at  the  present 
time,  be  unwelcome  to  many  who  are  seriously  alarmed  at  the 
prospect  which  is  opening  before  them. 

The  argument  of  the  Work  is  to  show,  not  merely  the 
predicted  downfall  of  all  temporal  governments,  as  a  general 
fact,  preparatory  to  the  establishment  of  Messiah's  kingdom, 
but  in  particular,  that  Britain  is  probably  included  in  the  threat- 
enings  denounced  against  Papal  Rome,  as  being  a  part  of  the 
image  in  Daniel's  vision.  It  must  be  admitted  that  this  sup- 
position will  derive  greater  weight,  if,  in  addition  to  the  gene- 
ral evidence  furnished,  it  can  be  shown  that  Popery  is  on  the 
increase  in  England,  wiiich  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  is 
the  case.  And  should  the  argument  be  regarded  as  insufficient 
to  establish  the  writer's  views,  much  good  may  be  done  prac- 
tically, if  the  re-appearance  of  these  Lectures  at  this  juncture 
shall  help  to  stimulate  Protestants  to  some  sufficient  exertions 
for  the  spread  of  their  common  principles,  to  which  they  owe 
so  many  incalculable  blessings,  in  opposition  to  the  baneful 
and  erroneous  system  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  whose  activity 
and  subtlety  are  now  more  than  making  up  for  the  numerical 
deficiency  of  its  adherents  in  this  country.  It  will  readily  be 
believed,  therefore,  that  party  or  sectarian  objects  are  wholly 
absent  from  the  republication  of  these  sheets, — their  character 
being  practical  and  not  controversial,  and  the  views  therein 
exliibited  demanding  tbe  solemn  and  earnest  consideration  of 
all  denominations  of  professing  Christians. 

Prichard-street,  April  17th,  1839. 


PREFACE. 


The  author  of  these  Lectures  might  plead  as  an  apology  for 
their  publication,  the  solicitations  of  his  numerous  friends,  of 
many  of  his  brethren  in  tlie  ministry,  and  of  Christians  of  all 
denominations;  but,  highly  as  he  esteems  their  judgment,  this, 
of  itself,  would  have  been  insufficient  to  force  him  from  his 
beloved  privacy,  and  to  induce  him  to  appear  before  the  world 
as  an  interpreter  of  prophecy.  Considerations  of  far  more 
awful  importance  than  the  approbation  or  disapprobation  of 
dying  men  like  himself,  form  the  motive  by  which  he  is 
actuated — break  in  upon  his  habits  of  retirement,  and  constrain 
him  to  encounter  the  opposition,  and  perhaps  the  obloquy, 
upon  which  he  has  calculated.  Any  man  who  openly  attacks 
the  prejudices,  passions,  and  customs  of  the  age,  in  which  he 
lives,  must  expect  to  raise  up  enemies.  This  explains  the  rea- 
son, why  the  prophets  were  imprisoned,  slain  with  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  cast  into  dens  of  lions,  tortured,  and  sawn  asun- 
der; why  apostles,  confessors,  and  martyrs,  were  beheaded, 
burnt  alive,  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  and  crucified;  and  why 
the  Son  of  God  himself  was  condemned  as  a  felon,  and  exe- 
cuted as  a  malefactor.  Luther,  whca  contending  with  hosts 
of  enemies,  with  powerful  kingdoms,  with  the  whole  weight 
of  the  pa])al  hierarchy,  and  all  the  corruptions  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived,  in  his  hours  of  depression  groaned  in  anguish 
of  spirit,  and,  it  is  said,  almost  repented  that  he  had  ever 
undertaken  the  invidious  task  of  a  reformer.  And,  although 
there  is  no  ground,  in  these  days,  to  fear  being  made  specta- 
cles of  infamy,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it,  to  angels  and  men; 
yet  human  nature  is  still  the  same,  and  will  suffer  no  attack 
upon  its  false  confidence,  its  self-complacency,  its  mistaken 
judgments,  or  its  reigning  passions,  without  indignant  resent- 
ment; and  may  not  this  be  the  reason,  conjointly  with  some 
unhallowed  violence  and  little  indiscretion  on  their  part,  that 
those  excellent  men,  wlio  in  modern  times  have  directed  their 
attention  to  the  study  of  the  sacred  pro[)hecies,  have  been  vili- 
_fied,  misrepresented,  and  held  up  to  j)ublic  derision  as  fools, 
fanatics,  and  maniacs?  They  are  entitled  however  to  one 
30* 


yj  PREFACE. 

commendation;  that  of  having  devoted  much  thought  to  that 
part  of  scripture,  which  in  fact  comprehends  the  whole  of 
revelation,  and  which  of  late  years  has  been  so  awfully  ne- 
glected. The  all-absorbing  interests  of  our  native  country, 
the  dangers  with  which  she  is  menaced,  the  fatal  security  in 
which  she  is  sunk,  and  the  dreadful  apathy  of  what  he  cannot 
but  esteem  the  best  part  of  the  community,  render  the  author 
perfectly  indifferent  to  all  consequences  with  regard  to  himself. 
Amidst  the  din  of  clamour  and  the  conflict  of  parties,  he  has 
often  been  reminded  of  an  observation  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
that  about  the  time  of  the  end,  in  all  probability,  a  body  of 
men  will  be  raised  up,  who  will  turn  their  attention  to  the 
prophecies,  and  insist  upon  their  literal  interpretation,  in  the 
midst  of  much  clamour  and  opposition.  And  how  exactly 
has  this  observation  of  that  sagacious  man  been  verified.  But 
why  this  violent  contention,  this  acrim.onious  spirit,  among  the 
brethren,  this  I'ending  and  tearing  amongst  the  members  of  the 
holy  and  mystical  body  of  Christ?  Surely  the  dread  import- 
ance of  the  question  should  allay  the  little  irritations  of  human 
nature,  and  awe  every  malignant  feeling  into  restraint;  while 
the  recollection  of  tiieir  common  union  to  the  great  head  of 
vital  influence,  sliould  sweeten  all  into  peace,  and  harmony, 
and  love.  Thus  the  discussion  being  conducted  in  the  meek- 
ness and  the  gentleness  of  Christ,  there  would  be  some  rational 
prospect  of  arriving  at 'the  discovery  of  the  truth,  and  seeing 
a  perfect  reconciliation,  and  cordial  union  of  all  parties.  Tjiese 
observations  are  forced  from  the  author  by  the  high  esteem 
which  he  cherishes  for  all  who  glory  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  make  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  the  theme  of 
their  ministry,  and  who  determine  to  know  nothing  among 
men  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified.  This,  the  students 
of  prophecy  are  bound  to  do,  above  all  other  men;  for  to  little 
purpose  do  they  read  and  search  the  sacred  oracles,  unless  their 
eyes  are  constantly  fixed  upon  the  Lamb  slain  from  tlic  founda- 
tion of  the  world, — the  most  prominent  and  most  magnificent 
object  which  is  constantly  held  up  to  view  by  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  especially  in  the  Apocalypse;  as  redeeming  the 
nations  from  the  bondage  of  guilt  and  corruption,  by  his  aton- 
ing sacrifice;  washing,  and  making  them  white,  in  his  own 
precious  blood;  opening  the  seals  of  prophecy;  directing,  with 
his  own  hand,  the  outpouring  of  the  vials,  and  the  sounding 
of  the  trumpets  among  the  nations;  as  standing  upon  the  mount 
of  Zion,  with  his  ransomed  church,  having  his  Father's  name 
written  on  their  foreheads;  as  completing  his  triumphs  over 
his  enemies,  and  their  enemies,  and  finally  establishing  his 
millennial  kingdom  in  all  its  purity,  beauty,  glory,  and  majesty. 


PREFACE.  Vii 

All  the  larger  and  smaller  lines  of  the  great  system  of  pro- 
phecy, which  is  characterized  by  the  most  perfect  unity  of 
design,  of  which  redemption  is  the  theme,  and  the  glory  of 
God  the  ultimate  end, — whether  general  or  clironological, — 
whether  literal  or  symbolical, — or  however  wide  their  circum- 
ference; and  although  involving  in  their  progress  the  destinies 
of  nations  and  empires,  converge  in  that  cross  on  which  the 
Prince  of  Glory  died;  and  thence,  as  from  a  common  centre, 
stretch  forward  to  the  blessed  consummation  of  all  things, 
where  they  again  meet  in  their  full  and  triumphant  accom- 
plishment. It  is,  therefore,  expected  from  the  genuine  student 
of  prophecy,  that  he  feel  a  strong  attachment  to  the  cross,  as 
his  triumph  and  his  glory,  and  that  he  profess  a  spirit  of  deep 
devotion  while  searching  the  scriptures,  and  discover  in  their 
general  spirit  and  deportment  all  those  virtues  which  an  ex- 
perimental knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  is  calcu- 
lated to  j)roduce. 

The  destiny  of  the  British  empire,  that  object  of  paramount 
importance  to  himself  and  his  country,  having  wholly  occu- 
pied the  mind  of  the  author,  and  formed  the  subject  of  these 
lectures,  he  has  not  attempted  to  enter  into  a  profound,  critical, 
or  extensive  examination  of  the  harmonies  of  the  prophecies 
in  general;  or  of  the  correspondence  between  the  visions  of 
Daniel  and  those  of  the  Apocalypse;  or  to  show,  as  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  observes,  that  the  latter  are  an  amplification  and  an 
explication  of  the  former.  *  For  the  same  reason,  he  has  care- 
fully avoided  all  disquisitions  on  the  certainty  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land;  the  nature  of  tlieir  deliverance 
from  the  Babylonian  captivity,  and  the  prophecies  referring  to 
that  great  event,  or  on  the  present  and  future  destinies  of  the 
ten  ti'ibes.  For  the  same  reason,  he  has  said  notiiing  concern- 
ing the  Abrahamic  covenant,  the  Sinai  covenant,  the  covenant 
of  royalty  made  with  David,  and  what,  is  emphatically  called 
the  new  covenant,  which  are  in  general  lost  sight  of  in  these 
discussions,  but  which  are  necessary  to  be  understood,  in  order 
to  a  clear  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  prophetical  writings. 
And  for  the  same  reason,  he  has  not  even  adverted  to  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  the  two  witnesses;  to  the  difference  be- 
tween the  mother  of  harlots,  when  rioting  in  all  her  dissolute 
prosperity,  and  the  false  prophet,  found  in  alliance  with  the 
beast,  at  the  time  of  their  final  destruction,  after  the  sorceress 
has  been  torn  from  hef  seat,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  have 
consumed  her  in  the  fire  of  their  wrath;  or  to  the  visiljle  ap- 
pearance of  the  Messiah — the  difference,  and  yet  the  identity, 
.between  his  spiritual  and  his  millennial  kingdom,  and  his  per- 
sonal reign;  of  to  the  resurrection  which  shall  precede  the 


y-jj  PREFACE. 

millenniiim,  to  the  state  of  things  during  that  predicted  period 
of  glory  and  blessedness;  or  to  the  destruction  of  the  liostile 
powers,  confederate  against  the  camp  of  the  beloved  city;  or 
the  wonders  of  that  day,  when  all  the  dead,  both  small  and 
great,  shall  stand  before  God.  If  life  should  be  spared,  and 
leisure  granted,  perhaps,  at  no  distant  period,  he  may  venture, 
with  great  deference,  and  under  correction,  to  give  publicity 
to  his  opinions  upon  these  vast  and  momentous  subjects.  In 
the  meantime,  he  would  earnestly,  and  affectionately,  recom- 
mend his  highly  esteemed  brethren  in  the  ministry,  to  turn 
their  attention,  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  and  fervent  prayer, 
to  this  great  subject;  and  would  take  the  liberty  of  reminding 
them  of  what  they  must  already  know  of  the  following  grand 
principles  of  scriptural  exposition. 

Fir^t,  That,  in  the  language  of  Horsley,  prophecy,  which 
comprehends  the  whole  of  Scripture,  is  a  communication  from 
an  infinite  to  a  finite  intellect;  developing  an  unity  of  design, 
and  a  continuity  of  thought,  worthy  of  that  Eternal  Spirit,  to 
whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day,  and  one  day  as  a  thousand 
years;  and  that  the  business  of  the  scriptural  student  is  to  keep 
his  eye  fixed  on  that  unity  of  design,  which,  in  fact,  is  redemp- 
tion, and  the  final  triumphs  of  the  Redeemer;  and  to  trace  that 
wonderful  continuity  of  thought,  by  comparing  predictions 
with  their  fulfilment,  and  prophecies  already  fulfilled  with  those 
that  remain  to  be  accomplished,  through  the  whole  field  of 
revelation. 

Sccondhj,  That  the  Abrahamic  covenant  is  the  foundation  of 
all  the  dispensations  of  heaven,  both  to  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
Hence  the  miracles  of  Egypt,  and  the  redemption  of  the 
church;  the  promulgation  of  the  law,  with  all  its  rites  and 
ordinances;  the  excision  of  the  nations  of  Canaan,  and  the 
settlement  of  the  Jews  in  the  holy  land;  the  fates  of  Edom, 
Moab,  Philistia,  Egypt,  Tyre,  Sidon,  and  of  the  great  ruling 
monarchies  of  tiie  world;  hence  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, — 
the  purchase  of  redemption  by  his  blood, — the  calling  of  the 
Gentiles, — the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  and  their  fall,  proving 
the  riches  of  the  Gentile  world;  all  in  fact,  that  God  lias  done 
in  the  accomplish inent  of  prophecy,  since  the  days  of  Abra- 
ham, and  all  tliat  he  will  do  in  their  accomplishment  until  the 
restitution  of  all  things. 

'Thirdly,  That  when  the  mind  of  the  prophet,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  is  occupied  with  two  or  more  events 
of  a  similar  character,  he  generally  speaks  of  them  as  though 
they  were  the  same,  althougli  they  may  differ  from  each  other 
in  several  respects,  and  althougli  many  ages  may  intervene 
between  their  respective  accomplishments.     Thus  the  prophets 


PREFACE. 


IX 


foretold  the  emancipation  of  Israel  from  Babylon,  their  deliver- 
ance in  the  latter  days,  and  the  redemption  of  the  whole  church, 
by  the  Messiah,  as  though  they  were  the  same  events;  and  by 
marking  those  parts  of  the  prophecies  that  have  been  fulfilled, 
we  know  with  certainty  what  remain  yet  to  be  fulfilled.  Thus, 
also,  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  foretold  the  first  and 
second  advent  of  the  Messiah;  his  first  advent  in  humility  and 
sorrow,  his  second  advent  in  glory  and  majesty,  as  though  they 
were  the  same  event.  The  prophecies  referring  to  his  first 
coming,  as  a  suflering  and  an  atoning  Saviour,  though  sufficient- 
ly clear,  distinct,  and  numerous,  to  leave  the  Jews  without 
excuse,  are  but  few  when  compared  with  those  which  speak  of 
his  appearance  as  the  Sovereign  of  the  world,  and  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth.  It  is  from  the  New  Testament  writers  only 
we  know  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  speaks  of  a  two-fold 
advent,  and  by  marking  the  prophecies  which  he  fulfilled  at 
his  first  coming,  we  know  with  certainty  what  remains  to  be 
fulfilled  at  his  second  coming.  Thus,  also,  the  great  prophet 
of  the  church  predicted  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
end  of  the  world,  as  though  they  were  the  same  event,  and  by 
marking  what  parts  of  the  prediction  were  accomplished  in 
the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  state  and  nation,  we  know  with 
certainty  what  remains  to  be  accomplished  when  he  shall  appear 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory. 

Fourlhhj,  That  four  horrible  systems  of  error  and  apostacy 
have  been  embodied,  established,  and  supported  by  nations,  as 
engines  of  state  policy,  which  are  repeatedly  the  subjects  of 
distinct  prophecy.  These  are  Idolatry,  Mahomedanism,  Pope- 
ry, and  Infidelity;  against  one  or  the  other,  or  all  of  these 
abominations,  every  part  of  the  word  of  God  is  levelled,  and 
to  rescue  the  human  race  from  their  domination  the  scriptures 
were  given  by  divine  inspiration, 

Fiflhly,  That  prophecy  has  a  literal  and  a  spiritual, — a  spirit- 
ual as  well  as  a  literal  signification,  and  must  therefore  receive 
a  literal  and  a  spiritual  accomplishment;  and  that  its  literal  in- 
terpretation must  form  the  ground-work  of  its  spiritual  appli- 
cation. By  the  literal  accomplishment  of  prophecy,  its  divine 
origin  is  proved  and  confirmed,  and  thus  the  scriptures  are 
rescued  from  the  charge  of  ambiguity  and  equivocation,  so 
justly  alleged  against  the  heathen  oracles;  and  by  the  spiritual 
application  of  prophecy,  the  vital  interest  of  religion  is  secured 
in  the  church  of  God. 

Lastly,  That  the  prophecies  are  either  general,  predicting 
events  without  specifying  the  times  when  they  shall  come  to 
-pass;  or  chronological,  not  only  foretelling  future  events,  but 
fixing  the  precise  date  of  their  accomplislimcnt.     Such  is  the 


PREFACE. 

famous  prophecy  of  Daniel's  seventy  weeks,  concerning  the 
lirst  advent  of  tlie  Messiah,  and  such  are  the  numerical  pro- 
phecies of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  concerning  his  second  advent. 
Upon  ihe  dates  of  such  prophecies,  be  it  remembered,  God 
has  been  pleased  that  a  considerable  obscurity  should  rest, 
until  the  time  of  the  consummation  be  near  at  hand.  That  the 
prophecies  are  literal,  and  of  course  to  be  literally  fulfilled;  or 
that  they  are  symbolical,  vv'hich  last,  though  not  exclusively, 
is  especially  the  character  of  the  chronological  prophecies  of 
Daniel  and  the  Apocalypse.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has  well  ob- 
served, '"That  for  ^tiiderstand'wg  the  prophecies,  we  are,  in  the 
lirst  place,  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  figurative  language 
of  the  prophets."  Some  object  to  the  study  of  the  prophe- 
cies, that  if  they  were  intended  to  be  understood,  they  would 
not  be  written  in  such  mysterious  language.  But  this  objec- 
tion is  altogether  unfounded.  For  nothing  would  be  more 
easy  than  to  prove,  that  the  symbolical  language  being  fixed 
and  definite  in  its  meaning,  is  more  easy  to  be  understood  than 
ordinary  language,  and  therefore  the  best  adapted  medium  for 
prophetical  communication.  Accordingly,  the  Spirit  of  pro- 
phecy has  employed  it  to  describe  those  mighty  revolutions, 
which  are  to  issue  in  the  noonday  glory  of  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom. Words  are  arbitrary,  ambiguous,  and  always  changing 
their  significations;  verbal  language  has  been  confounded,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  one  country  are  unintelligible  to  those  of 
another;  but  the  symbols  of  prophecy  which  are  founded  in 
nature,  are  subject  to  no  such  confusion  and  ambiguity.  Like 
the  figurative  language  of  scripture  in  general,  they  were  in- 
tended not  for  the  Jew,  the  Egyptian,  the  Greek,  the  Eu- 
I'opean,  or  the  African,  but  for  man,  as  man,  and  consequently 
for  man  in  every  age,  and  in  every  nation.  "In  the  rich 
imagei-y  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,"  says  Mr.  Faber,  (in  his  ad- 
mirable introduction  to  his  chapter  on  the  symbolical  language 
of  prophecy,  the  main  object  of  which  is  to  point  out  and 
insist  on  the  exact  precision  of  the  prophetical  language,) 
"(/i(J'erent  symbols  are  frequently  used  to  express  the  same  thifig, 
but  no  one  symbol  is  ever  used  to  express  dijferent  things,  unless 
such  (lilfereiil  things  have  a  manifest  analogical  resemblance  to 
each  other.  Hence  the  language  of  symbols,  being  purely  a 
language  of  ideas,  is,  in  one  respect,  more  perfect  than  any 
ordinary  language  can  be;  it  possesses  the  variegated  elegance 
o(  synofiymes,  without  any  of  the  obscurity  which  arises  from 
the  use  of  amljiguous  terms."  The  reader  may  consult,  with 
advantage,  the  whole  of  Mr.  Faber's  chapter  on  the  symbolical 
language  of  prophecy;  together  with  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  cata- 
logue of  symbols,  with  their  several  interpretations. 


PREFACE.  Xi 

A  diligent  and  devout  study  of  the  sacred  oracles,  upon 
these  principles,  will  lead  to  an  easy  and  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  many  both  fulfilled  and  unfulfilled  prophecies,  elucidate 
many  particular  passages,  which  are  otherwise  wrapt  in  im- 
penetrable obscurity,  and  develop,  in  a  striking  manner,  the 
beauty,  harmony,  and  majesty  of  divine  revelation.  The  stu- 
dent may  read,  with  advantage,  Vitringa,  Daubuz,  Bishop 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  learned  Joseph  Mode,  Arch- 
deacon Woodhouse,  Bishop  Ilorsley,  INIr.  Faber,  Mr.  Cun- 
ingliame,  Mr.  Frerc,  Mr.  Bicheno,  Ben  Ezra,  translated  by 
J\lr.  Irving,  and,  though  the  last  mentioned,  not  the  least,  the 
late  excellent  Mr.  Brown's  Even-tide:  above  all,  with  these 
principles,  let  him  search  the  scriptures  for  himself,  in  humble 
dependence  on  divine  teaching.  The  writer  gratefully  acknow- 
ledges his  obligations  to  the  above-mentioned  authors;  for,  to 
use  a  simile  of  Swift  in  the  Battle  of  the  Books,  let  others, 
like  the  spider,  weave  their  flimsy  nets,  out  of  their  own 
bowels,  he  would  resemble  the  bee,  which  expatiates  over  the 
wide  frcld  of  nature,  and  distils  its  sweets  from  every  flower 
to  enrich  its  hive.  "Amongst  the  interpreters  of  the  last  age," 
says  the  great  Newton,  "there  is  scarce  one  of  note  who  hath 
not  made  some  discovery  worth  knowing."  The  variety  of 
opinions  which  prevail  among  the  writers  upon  prophecy  is 
sometimes  mentioned  as  a  discouragement  to  the  study  of  the 
prophetical  writings.  But  for  this  there  is  no  foundation; 
they  are  all  agreed  as  to  the  general  outlines  of  prophecy,  and 
differ  only  as  to  the  minuter  parts.  Besides  there  is  not  a 
question  in  natural  philosophy,  in  chemistry,  in  morality,  in 
theology,  nor  scarcely  a  text  of  scripture,  on  which  there  has 
not  been  a  diversity  and  even  a  contrariety  of  opinion.  If, 
therefore,  we  are  to  neglect  the  study  of  any  branch  of  know- 
ledge because  of  the  variety  or  discrepancies  of  opinion  that 
have  been  maintained  by  different  men,  we  must  close  all  our 
books,  the  Bible  among  the  rest,  and  return  at  once  to  -dark- 
ness and  barbarism. 


THE 

DESTINIES  OF  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE; 

AND  THE 

DUTIES  OF  BRITISH  CHRISTIANS, 

AT  THE  PRESENT  CRISIS. 


LECTURE  r. 

The  lecture  to  be  delivered  this  evening  will  be  unusually- 
long.  The  Apostle  Paul,  on  one  extraordinary  occasion, 
preached  till  midnight;  and  if  any^  subject  can  justify  a  con- 
formity, in  this  respect,  to  the  apostolical  example,  it  is  surely 
that  which,  this  evening,  is  to  engage  our  attention, — the 
Destinies  of  the  British  Empire.  I  will  endeavour  to  con- 
dense, as  much  as  possible,  within  the  time  to  which  I  would 
limit  myself;  and,  throwing  myself  upon  your  candour,  I 
beseech  you  to  hear  me  patiently,  and  earnestly  solicit  an 
interest  in  your  prayers. 

Read  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Prophecies  of  Daniel,  and 
forty-fourth  verse: 

And  in  the  days  of  these  Jungs  shall  the  God  of  heaven 
set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  he  destroyed;  and  the 
kingdom  shall  not  he  left  to  other  people,  hut  it  shall  hreak 
in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  andil  shall  stand 
for  ever. 

Patriotism,  or  the  love  of  one's  country,  is  a  sentiment  that 
glows  with  intense  fervour  in  every  heart  that  beats  in  a 
British  bosom.  Our  native  land  is  endeared  to  us,  not  only  as 
the  land  of  our  fathers  whose  ashes  are  shimljcring  beneath 
the  clods  of  her  valleys,  but  by  a  thousand  other  tender  ani^ 
important  considerations.  Her  industry,  her  benevolence,  her 
charitable  institutions,  and  the  asylum  which  she  has  always 

VOL.   II. — 31 


24  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

afforded  to  the  wretched,  who,  amidst  the  distress  of  nations, 
have  fled  to  her  as  their  only  refuge;  the  records  of  her  his- 
tory, lier  unrivalled  constitution,  and  the  noble  stand  she  has 
often  made  against  the  encroachments  of  civil,  military,  and 
ecclesiastical  despotism;  her  vast  resources,  her  commanding 
attitude,  at  this  moment,  among  the  nations,  her  religious 
advantages,  and,  above  all,  her  extensive  agency,  as  the  instru- 
ment of  divine  providence,  in  spreading  the  blessings  of  eter- 
nal salvation,  through  the  most  distant  regions  of  the  world, 
all  conspire  to  render  her  lovely  and  venerable  in  the  esteem 
of  her  loyal  children. 

With  this  sentiment  I  deeply  sympathize,  and  have  often 
said,  with  one  of  our  poets,  justly  styled  the  poet  of  the  INIil- 
lennium, — 

"Englanrl,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still — 
My  country!  and,  -while  yet  a  nook  is  left,    ' 
Where  English  minds  and  manners  may  be  found, 
Shall  be  constrain'd  to  love  thee."' 

■ "And  I  can  feel 

Thy  follies  too." 

After  a  long  and  painful  investigation,  during  which  I  have 
endured  mental  conflicts,  which  no  language  can  describe,  in 
opposition  to  the  strongest  prejudices,  the  fondest  hopes,  and 
the  dearest  wishes  of  my  heart,  I  have  been  constrained  to 
look,  while  the  tempest  has  been  gathering  around  us,  to  the 
dark  side  of  the  horizon,  I  pretend  not,  however,  to  any  ex- 
traordinary knowledge  of  futurity.  I  assume  not  the  character 
of  a  prophet,  but  only  that  of  an  humble,  a  very  humble  fellow 
labourer,  wiih  those,  among  whom,  beyond  all  comparison,  are 
ranked  the  wisest  and  the  best  of  men,  who  have  endeavoured 
to  interpret  prophecy;  to  the  study  of  which,  I  hope  I  may 
add,  without  arrogance,  I  have  been  devoted  from  the  eigh- 
teenth year  of  my  age  to  this  day.  All  the  knowledge  that 
has  been  derived  an  this  subject,  has  been  drawn  from  sources 
which  lie  open  to  all  mankind,  in  the  lively  oracles  of  God,  as 
corresponding  with  the  sigi7s  of  the  times,  in  the  dispensations 
of  Divine  Providence.  In  those  holy  oracles,  the  Creator  of 
the  world — the  author  of  revelation,  has  laid  open  the  rise  and 
progress,  the  varied  fortunes,  and  final  destinies,  of  all  the 
nations  and  empires  of  the  world.  He  has  decreed  that  they 
shall  all  perish,  and  his  decree  is  founded  in  righteous  judg- 
ment. For  all  earthly  kingdoms  are  founded  in  slaughter, 
cemented  with  blood,  defended  with  weapons  of  destructive 
warfare,  and  maintained  by  maxims  of  a  crooked  and  iniqui- 
tous policy.  Insomuch,  that  were  the  angel  of  retribution  to 
proceed  from  the  throne  of  God,  with  the  balance  of  justice  in 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  15 

one  hand,  and  the  mace  of  power  in  the  other,  to  weigh  the 
nations  in  scales,  and  to  distribute  awards  accordingly,  "Mene, 
TEKEL,"  would  be  written  on  all  their  walls,  as  was  once 
written  on  the  walls  of  Belshazzar's  palace,  and  like  the 
monarchy  of  Babylon,  they  would  quickly  be  destroyed  from 
off  the  face  of  the  earth.  There  is,  brethren,  a  righteous  God, 
that  judgcth  in  the  earth;  who  rules  the  nations  in  righteous- 
ness, and  will  judge  them  with  equity.  His  justice  demands 
that  they  all  perish;  and  he  has  distinctly  pronounced  their 
doom  by  his  servants  the  prophets.  To  confirm  the  truth  of 
this  statement  at  large,  by  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God, 
would  be  to  quote  one-third,  at  least,  of  the  sacred  volume. 
David  tells  us,  in  the  second  Psalm,  that  the  Messiah  shall 
break  in  pieces  all  nations  who  refuse  to  bow  to  the  sceptre^^of 
his  kingdom,  with  a  rod  of  iron,  like  a  potter's  vessel.  Isaiah 
is  very  bold  and  explicit,  and  his  words  are  very  terrible;  as 
it  is  written  in  the  twenty-fourth  and  thirty-fourth  chapters  of 
his  prophecies: — "Come  near,  all  ye  nations  to  hear,  and 
hearken  ye  people;  let  the  earth  hear,  and  all  that  is  therein; 
the  world,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  For  the  indignation 
of  the  Lord  is  upon  all  nations,  and  his  fury  upon  all  their 
enemies;  he  hath  delivered  them  to  the  slaughter.  And  the 
mountains  shall  be  melted  with  their  blood;  and  all  the  host 
of  heaven  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  heavens  shall  be  rolled 
together  as  a  scroll." 

In  order  to  understand  the  meaning  of  this  sublime  imagery, 
and  that  which  follows,  it  will  be  necessary  to  remember  that, 
in  the  symbolical  language  of  prophecy,  the  heavens  symbolize 
nations  and  civil  governments;  that  the  sun  is  the  symbol  of 
the  ruling  power  of  a  kingdom  or  a  nation;  the  moon,  of  an 
ecclesiastical  establishment,  in  alliance  with  the  state,  whether 
Pagan,  Jewish,  INIahomcd^n,  or  Christian;  the  stars  of  heaven 
called  also  the  hosts  of  heaven,  of  subordinate  governors,  as 
rulers  of  provinces,  or  rulers  of  churches;  mountains,  of 
empires;  and  hills,  of  lesser  states  and  kingdoms;  and  that  the 
earth  is  the  symbol  of  the  great  mass  of  the  population,  of 
which  nations  are  composed,  or  the  lower  orders,  who  are  in 
subjection  to  the  higher  powers.  According  to  this  mode  of 
interpreting  the  sacred  symbols,  laid  down  by  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, in  his  Key  to  the  Prophecies,  the  darkening  of  the  sun 
signifies  the  extinction  of  the  ruling  power  of  a  nation;  the 
confounding  of  the  moon,  or  the  turning  of  it  into  blood,  the 
overthrow  of  the  ecclesiastical  establishment  by  sanguinary 
conflict;  the  falling  down  of  the  stars  from  heaven,  as  a  fig 
.  falleth  from  a  fig-tree,  denotes  the  downfall  of  subordinate 
rulers,  in  the  civil  or  ecclesiastical  department;  the  melting  of 


jQ  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

the  mountains  with  hlood,  the  dissolution  of  empires  by  the 
ravages  of  war;  the  shaking  of  the  earth,  denotes  revohationary 
convulsions,  occasioned  by  poj:)ular  insurrection,  overturning 
the  established  order  of  things,  as  a  natural  earthquake  sub- 
verts cities  and  kingdoms:  and  the  rolling  together  of  the 
heavens  as  a  scroll,  their  passing  away  with  a  great  noise,  sig- 
nifies the  dissolution,  the  passing  ofl^,  the  annihilation,  of  the 
whole  civil  and  ecclesiastical  establishment.  Under  these 
symbols,  the  prophets  have  described  and  foretold  the  destruc- 
tion of  Egypt,  Babylon,  Tyre,  Sydon,  Persia,  Greece,  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  Roman  Empire;  and,  under  the  same  •symbols, 
they  have  described  and  foretold  the  destruction  of  all  the 
nations  and  em.jjires  that  ever  have  existed,  or  that  now  exist, 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  Let  us  now  return,  with  this  key 
in  our  hands,  to  the  prophet  Isaiah, — "Come  near,  ye  nations, 
to  hear;  let  the  earth  hear,  and  all  that  is  therein;  the  world, 
and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  For  the  indignation  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  all  nations,  and  his  fury  upon  all  their  armies;  he  hath 
delivered  them  to  the  slaughter.  And  the  mountains  (symbol 
for  empires)  shall  be  melted  with,  their  blood.  And  all  the 
host  of  heaven  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  heavens  shall  be 
rolled  together  as  a  scroll;  and  all  their  hosts  shall  fall  down 
as  the  leaf  falleth  off  from  the  vine,  and  as  a  falling  fig  from 
the  fig-tree.'*'  And  my  sword  shall  be  bathed  in  heaven,  i.  e. 
in  the  political  heaven;  land  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  i.  c. 
the  political  earth,  the  lower  orders,  in  subjection  to  the  higher 
])owers,  shall  be  shaken;  for  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord's 
vengeance,  and  the  year  of  recompenses  for  the  controversy 
of  Zion.  The  earth  is  utterly  broken;  the  earth  is  moved 
exceedingly.  The  earth  shall  reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard, 
and  shall  be  removed  like  a  cottage;  and  the  transgression 
thereof  shall  be  heav}^  u])on  it,  and  it  shall  fall,  and  not  rise 
again,  lie-ascending  from  the  political  earth  to  the  political 
heavens,  the  prophet  then  adds, — "And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
in  that  day  that  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of  the  high 
ones  that  are  on  high,  even  the  kings  of  the  earth  upon 
tlie  earth.  Then  the  moon  shall  be  confounded,  and  the  sun 
ashamed,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  reign  in  Zion,  and  in 
Jerusalem,  and  before  his  ancients  gloriously."  Ah!  who  sliall 
live  when  God  doth  this?  The  words  of  the  ])rophet  Jere- 
miah are  equally  explicit,  and  not  less  terrible,  as  you  will 
read  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  his  prophecies: — "I  will 
call  for  a  sword  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts;  therefore  prophecy  against  them  all  these 
words,  and  say  unto  them,  The  Lord  shall  roar  from  on  high, 
and  utter  his  voice  from  his  holy  habitation;  he  shall  give  a 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  17 

shout,  as  they  that  tread  the  grapes,  against  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth.  A  noise  shall  come  even  to  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth;  for  the  Lord  hath  a  controversy  with  all  nations;  and 
he  will  plead  with  all  flesh;  he  will  give  them  to  the  sword, 
saith  the  Lord.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  behold  evil 
shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation;  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  at  that  day  from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  to  the 
other."  These  awful  predictions  have  never  yet  been  fulfilled; 
but  they  are  stamped  with  eternal  truth,  and  must,  therefore, 
receive  their  accomplishment.  Is  the  British  nation,  my 
fellow-citizens,  included  among  all  the  nations  and  kingdoms 
that  exist  from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  to  the  other  end  of 
tlie  earth,  or  is  she  not?  If  she  be,  she  must  fall  with  them; 
if  not, — if  she  be  a  mere  cipher  in  the  great  account,  then, 
indeed,  she  may  escape, — if  not,  her  ruin  is  inevitable. 

Tliere  is,  indeed,  one  exception  to  >liis  general  doom,  and 
but  one  exception,  made  in  favour  of  the  Jewish  nation;  and 
the  period  of  their  restoration  to  their  own  land,  and  their 
conversion  to  their  fathers'  God,  is  often  mentioned  by  the 
prophets,  as  the  crisis  of  all  nations.  ''Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
to  Jacob  whom  I  have  chosen,  and  Israel  my  servant,  I  will 
surely  make  a  full  end  of  all  nations  whither  I  have  driven 
thee,  but  I  will  not  make  a  full  end  of  thee;  but  I  will  gather 
th}-  seed  from  the  east,  and  from  the  west,  and  from  all  the 
coasts  of  the  earth;  and  I  will  plant  them  in  their  own  land, 
and  will  rejoice  over  them  to  do  them  good,  with  my  whole 
heart,  and  with  all  my  soul.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup 
of  trembling  to  all  the  nations  that  are  round  about.  And  on 
that  day  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  burthensome  stone  to  all 
nations,  and  they  shall  be  cut  in  pieces  and  broken,  though  all 
the  people  of  the  earth  be  gathered  together."  The  time 
when  Ivlichael,  the  prince,  .<hall  stand  up  for  Daniel's  people, 
and  cause  their  scattering  to  cease,  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble 
to  all  nations,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  until 
this  day.  To  this  fearful  crisis  of  the  nations  our  Lord  him- 
self alludes,  when  he  says,  nearly  in  the  very  words  of  Daniel, 
"There  shall  be  tribulation  in  those  days  such  as  has  not  been 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  no,  nor  never  shall  be." 

Besides  tlie  idolatry,  infidelity,  impiety,  oppression,  injus- 
tice, and  general  depravation  of  manners,  which  are  mentioned 
by  the  prophets  as  the  procuring  causes  of  these  exterminating 
calamities,  the  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  nations  upon  the  house 
of  Israel  are  particularly  distinguished.  Hear  the  voices  of 
the  prophets,  Ilaggai  and  Joel:  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
in  that  day  I  will  overthrow  the  throne  of  kingdoms,  and  I 
31* 


18 


THE  DESTINIES  OF 


will  destroy  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  heathen,  whither  my 
•  people  have  been  scattered.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts:  in 
that  day  wlien  I  turn  again  the  captivity  of  Judah,  and  of  my 
people  Israel,  I  will  also  gather  all  nations  together,  and  will 
plead  with  them  for  my  people,  and  for  Israel  my  heritage, 
whom  they  have  scattered  among  the  nations,  and  whose  land 
they  have  parted.  Behold  I  will  raise  them  out  of  the  places 
whither  ye  have  sold  them,  and  will  return  your  recompense 
upon  your  own  head.  Proclaim  ye  this  among  the  Gentiles: 
Assemble  yourselves,  and  come  all  ye  heathen,  and  gather 
yourselves  round  about;  thither  cause  thy  mighty  ones  to  come 
'  down,  0  Lord.  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is  ripe; 
come,  get  ye  down,  for  the  press  is  full,  the  fats  overflow;  for 
their  wickedness  is  great.  Multitudes!  multitudes  in  the 
valley  of  decision,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the 
valley  of  decision.  The  sun  and  the  moon  shall  be  darkened, 
and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining.  '  The  Lord  also 
shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  shall  utter  his  voice  from  Jerusalem; 
and  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  shake,  but  the  Lord  will 
be  the  hope  of  his  people,  and  the  strength  of  the  children  of 
Israel." — Mai.  iv.     Hag.  ii.     Joeli. 

This  controversy  with  the  guilty  nations  will  be  finally  de- 
cided, by  the  appearance  of  the  great  Messiah,  the  son  of  God, 
in  glory  and  majesty.  On  this  doctrine,  we  find  the  most 
perfect  harmony  bet\v(?en  the  prophets  of  the  Old  and  of  the 
New  Testament:  "Behold,"  saith  the  prophet  Isaiah,  "behold, 
the  Lord  will  come  with  fire,  and  with  his  chariots,  like  a 
whirlwind,  to  render  his  anger  with  fury,  and  his  rebuke  with 
flames  of  fire.  For,  by  fire,  and  by  his  sword,  will  the  Lord 
plead  with  all  flesh,  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be  many." 
— Isaiah  Ixvi.  "Behold  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  cruel 
both  with  wrath  and  fierce  anger  to  lay  the  land  desolate;  for 
the  stars  of  heaven  and  the  constellations  thereof  shall  not  give 
their  light;  the  sun  shall  be  darkened  in  his  going  forth,  and 
the  moon  shall  not  cause  her  light  to  shine.  And  I  will  punish 
the  world  for  their  evil,  and  the  wicked  for  their  iniquity; 
therefore  I  will  shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  shall  be  re- 
moved out  of  her  place  in  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  in  the  day  of  his  fierce  anger.  Behold  the  Lord  maketh 
the  earth  empty,  and  maketh  it  waste,  and  scattereth  abroad 
the  inhabitants  thereof;  /or  the  Lord  hath  spoketi  this  word.'' 
"Behold,"  saith  the  prophet  Zachariah,  "the  day  of  the  Lord 
cometh;  for  I  will  gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to  battle; 
(this  supposes  the  previous  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
rebuilding  of  their  temple;)  then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth  and 
fight  against  those  nations,  as  when  he  fought  in  the  day  of 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  JQ 

battle.  And  his  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  which  is  before  Jcnisalcni  on  the  east,  (the  sacred 
mount  on  which  he  left  tiie  last  prints  of  his  feet  when  he 
ascended  into  heaven,)  and  the  Mount  of  Olives  shall  cleave 
in  the  midst  thereof,  toward  the  east  and  toward  the  west,  and 
there  shall  be  a  very  great  valley.  And  ye  shall  flee  to  the 
valley  of  the  mountains; — yea,  ye  shall  flee,  like  as  ye  fled 
from  before  the  earthquake,  in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  king  of 
Judah,  and  the  Lord  my  God  shall  come,  and  all  his  holy  ones 
with  him." 

And  for  what  purpose  will  he  come  but  to  set  up  his  millen- 
nial kingdom?  This  is  evident  from  what  follows: — "In  that 
day  there  shall  be  one  king,  and  one  Lord,  over  all  the  earth, 
and  his  name  one."  Isaiah  again  lifts  up  his  voice,  exclaim- 
ing,— "Behold  the  name  of  tiie  Lord  cometh  from  afar,  burn- 
ing in  his  anger  with  indignation  and  flaming  fire.  And  the 
Lord  shall  cause  his  glorious  voice  to  be  heard,  and  shall  shew 
the  lighting  down  of  his  arm  before  all  nations,  with  the  in- 
dignation of  his  anger,  and  with  the  flame  of  a  devouring  fire, 
with  scattering  and  with  tempest."  Hear  the  confirming  tes- 
timony of  Zephaniah: — "Therefore,  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith 
the  Lord,  until  the  day  that  I  arise  up  to  the  prey:  for  my 
determination  is  to  gather  the  nations,  that  I  may  assemble  the 
kingdoms,  to  pour  upon  them  mine  indignation,  even  all  my 
fierce  anger;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with  the 
flaming  fire  of  my  jealousy.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye 
that  tiemble  at  his  word,  he  shall  appear  to  your  joy  and  they 
shall  be  ashamed."  To  these  awful  predictions  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  great  JNIessiah  in  flaming  fire,  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  evidently  alludes,  when  he  says,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians, — "It  is  a  riglUeous  thing  with  God  to  recom- 
pense tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you:  and  to  you  who 
are  troubled  rest  with  us^  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  re- 
vealed from  heaven,  with  his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance." — Two  classes  of  delinquents  are  here 
mentioned — the  heathen,  who  know  not  God,  arid  nominal 
Christians,  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power,  when 
he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired 
in  all  them  that  believe.  To  this  period,  so  full  of  glory  and 
majesty,  our  Lord  himself  refers  when  he  says:  "And  there 
shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars: 
the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  .'iiall  not  give  her 
light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of 
-the  heavens  shall  be  shaken;  and  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of 


20  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

the  son  of  man  in  the  heavens;  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of 
the  earth  mourn,  when  the}'  shall  see  the  son  of  man  coming 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory."  Be- 
hold! exclaims  the  beloved  disciple,  he  cometh  in  clouds,  in 
bright  clouds,  the  shechinah,  the  august  symbol  of  his  pre- 
sence; and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  that  pierced  him; 
the  Jews  who  nailed  him  to  the  cross,  and  the  Gentiles  who 
have  crucified  him  afresh,  and  all  nations,  the  heathen,  who 
never  heard  his  name,  shall  wail  because  of  him;  even  so,  re- 
sponds the  ransomed  church  with  reverential  fear,  yet  intense 
desire, — Amen,  and  so,  come.  Lord  JesUs,"  At  the  closing 
scene  of  the  book  of  the  Revelation,  he  is  again  introduced  as 
a  mighty  angel,  standing  in  the  midst  of  Heaven,  and  enlight- 
ening the  whole  earth  with  his  glory;  and,  again,  as  the  word 
of  God  clothed  in  a  garment  dipped  in  blood,  wearing  upon 
his  vestment  and  his  thigh,  a  name  written,  King  of  Kings  and 
Lords  of  Lords,  leading  on  his  victorious  armifes  to  the  great 
battle  of  Armageddon;  casting  the  beast,  the  false  prophet, 
the  symbol  of  Popery,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  all 
their  armies,  into  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone: and  thus  presiding  over  the  final  triumph  of  the  church. 

In  perfect  harmony  with  these  predictions  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  St.  Paul  assures  us,  "that  he  who  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven  with  all  his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance,  shall  ^lestroy  the  man  of  sin,  who  sittcth  in 
the  temple  of  God  shewing  himself  that  he  is  God,  with  the 
breath  of  his  moutb  and  the  brightness  of  his  appearing." 

Observe,  once  more,  on  this  branch  of  our  subject,  that  the 
great  JVIessiah,  the  son  of  God,  \vill  appear,  in  majesty  and 
glory,  to  subdue  every  hostile  power,  and  to  displace  whole 
earthly  dominion,  preparatory  to  the  establishment  of  his  mil- 
lennial kingdom.  Hence,  we  read,  that  immediately  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophets,  the  kings  of 
the  earth  and  all  their  armies,  a  voice  is  heard  from  heaven, 
proclaiming,  "The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  now  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Grod,  and  of  his  Messiah,  and  he  shall 
reign  for  ever  and  ever."  Again,  in  our  text,  "In  the  days  of 
those  kings,  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which 
shall  never  be  destroyed;  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to 
other  people;  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces,  and  consume,  all 
these  kingdoms,  and  shall  stand  for  ever."  The  Prince  of 
Peace  shall  then  sway  a  sceptre  of  righteousness  and  love,  over 
a  happy  and  an  enlightened  world;  his  glory  shall  cover  and 
fdl  the  whole  earth;  his  loveliness  and  majesty  shall  be  un- 
veiled to  every  eye,  and  his  royal  law  of  love  be  written  on 
every  heart.     The  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house,  the  empire 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  OJ 

of  peace  and  righteousness,  shall  be  established  on  the  tops  of 
the  mountains,  or  all  earthly  emj)ircs,  and  shall  be  exalted 
above  all  hills,  or  subordinate  states  and  kingdoms;  men  shall 
then  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruning  hooks;  and  nations,  renovated  and  united  under  his 
government,  shall  learn  war  no  more.  Paradise  shall  be  re- 
stored, and  co-extended  with  the  limits  of  the  globe.  Hence 
the  beautiful  imagery  of  the  j)rophets  is  frequently  borrowed 
from  the  scenery  of  the  earthly  Paradise.  Thus,  we  lead  of 
tlie  flowers  of  Paradise,  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  and  the  tree  of 
life,  which  groweth  in  the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God;  yield- 
ing twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and  is  shedding  its  leaves  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations.  We  read,  also,  of  the  jiurity  and  in- 
nocency  of  the  Paradisaical  state;  only  with  tliis  diflerence,^ — 
there  will  be  no  curse  there;  no  tree  of  morality;  no  lurking 
serpent  to  beguile,  ensnare,  and  ruin;  but  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb  shall  be  there,  and  his  servants  shall  serve  him, 
and  his  name  shall  be  upon  their  foreheads,  and  the  tabernacle 
of  God  shall  be  with  men,  and  the  Lord  God  himself  shall 
dwell  among  them,  and  shall  be  their  God,  and  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes.  Hence,  the  following  positions  are  in- 
controvertible:— that  all  nations  must  perish,  consequently  the 
British  nation;  that  their  doom  is  founded  in  righteous  judg- 
ment; that  there  is  one  exception  to  this  general  doom,  and 
but  one  exception,  made  in  favour  of  the  Jewish  nation; — that 
the  time  of  their  restoration  and  conversion  is  often  mentioned 
by  the  prophets  as  the  crisis  of  all  nations; — that,  besides  the 
otlicr  crimes  mentioned  by  the  prophets  as  the  procuring  causes 
of  these  fearful  calamities,  the  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  na- 
tions, upon  the  house  of  Israel,  are  parti-cularly  distinguished: 
(of  these  cruelties  Great  Britain  has  had  her  full  share;) — and 
finally,  that  this  controversy^  with  the  guilty  nations  will  be 
decided  by  the  appearance  of  the  great  .Messiah,  the  Son  of 
God  in  glory  and  majesty,  when  he  comes  to  take  vengeance, 
especially  on  those  who  have  been  favoured  with  the  gospel, 
but  have  not  obeyed  the  gospel  of  Christ,  in  which  guilt  Great 
Britain  is  deeply  involved;  and  that  scenes  of  vengeance  arc 
to  hasten  scenes  of  millennial  peace  and  glory. 

But,  although  all  nations  and  empires  are  deeply  involved 
in  the  guilt  of  idolatry,  infidelity  and  impiety,  opjM'cssion  and 
injustice;  although  they  are  all  founded  in  slaughter,  cemented 
with  human  blood,  and  maintained  by  an  ini(piitous  policy; 
and,  although  they  are  all  chargeable  with  the  cruelties  inflict- 
ed on  the  seed  of  Abraham,  yet  there  is  one  empire  which  is 
in.ore  deejily  implicated  in  these  crimes,  than  the  rest,  which 
has  been,  for  thousands  of  years,  the   greatest   curse  under 


22  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

which  the  earth  has  ever  groaned,  and  which  is  therefore 
marked  out,  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  as  the  special  object  of 
God's  vengeance.  This  is  tiie  Roman  empire,  first  founded 
on  the  ruins  of  several  European  kingdoms;  thence  spreading 
its  ravages  over  the  immense  platform  of  the  Babyloi>ian,  the 
Persian,  and  the  Grecian  monarchies;  and  then  again  extend- 
ing its  conquest  westward,  as  far  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  kingdom, 
now  called  Great  Britain. 

We  read  in  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah,  that  the  Lord  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  prophet  a  cup  of  fury  and  indignation, 
and  commanded  him  to  hand  it  round  to  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world,  which  are  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  accord- 
ing to  a  prescribed  order  of  succession,  beginning  with  Jeru- 
salem, to  whom  the  cup  was  presented  twice;  first,  when  she 
was  laid  in  ashes  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  again  when  she  was 
destroyed  a  second  time  by  the  Romans;  from  Jerusalem  it  is 
sent  to  Babylon  on  the  Euphrates;  from  Babylon  to  Egypt; 
from  Egypt  onwards  to  Tyre,  Sidon,  Dedan,  Persia,  Greece, 
to  all  the  islands  that  are  afar  ofi'in  the  seas;  thence  onwards, 
making  the  circuit  of  the  whole  world,  and  finally  to  Babylon 
the  second  time,  immediately  before  the  restoration  of  Israel, 
not  Babylon  on  the  Euphrates,  but  Babylon  on  the  Tiber, 
called  Babylon  the  great — mystical  Babylon,  the  mother  of 
harlots,  or  idolatrous  churches;  first  Pagan,  afterwards  Chris- 
tian ecclesiastical,  establishments,  in  alliance  with  the  secular 
kingdoms,  included  within  the  limits  of  the  empire.  When 
the  cup  of  trembling  reaches  Babylon  a  second  time,  or  mys- 
tical Babylon,  the  prophet  hears  a  loud  triumphant  shout, 
saying,  Babylon  is  fallen!  is  fallen!  is  fallen!  In  the  parallel 
vision  of  the  Revelation,  St.  John  beholds  a  mighty  angel 
casting  a  mill-stone  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  saying,  thus 
shall  Babylon  sink  to  rise  no  more;  he  then  hears  the  tri- 
umphant shout,  which  the  prophet  of  the  Old  Testament  had 
heard  many  centuries  before,  J5abylon  is  fallen!  is  fallen!  is 
fallen!  But  the  shout  of  triumph  is  re-echoed  by  the  wailings 
and  lamentations  of  the  falling  nations,  saying,  Alas!  alas! 
Babylon  the  great  is  fallen  to  rise  no  more;  for  when  great 
Babylon,  says  the  apostle,  cometh  up  into  remembrance  before 
God  to  give  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fury  of  his  indig- 
nation, the  nations,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations,  shall  fall  like- 
wise. 

And  must  Britain  too,  endeared  to  our  hearts  by  a  thousand 
tender  associations, — lirilain,  exalted  unto  heaven,  and  sitting 
as  queen  over  the  earth;  must  she,  too,  fall,  amidst  this  wreck 
of  nations?  Ah!  who  shall  answer  this  question?  To  arrive 
at  a  satisfactory  conclusion,  there  are  two  previous  questions 


TPIE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  23 

which  must  be  thoroughly  and  candidly  examined: — First, 
What  do  we  learn  upon  this  subject  from  the  sacred  prophe- 
cies? Secondl}^,  Wliat  is  the  religious  and  the  moral  character 
of  Great  Britain?  First,  What  do  we  learn  upon  this  subject 
from  the  sacred  propiiecies?  To  answer  this  question  it  will 
be  necessary  hastily  to  retrace  the  ground  which  has  been 
traversed  by  various  expositors,  and  which  we  ourselves  have 
travelled  over  on  a  former  occasion;  and  take  a  view  of  the 
proplietical  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  in  connection  with  the 
parallel  vision  of  Daniel,  which  arc  recorded  in  the  second 
and  seventh  chapters  of  his  prophecy.  The  dream  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar was  of  a  colossal  human  figure,  composed  of  bur- 
nished metals;  the  head  of  gold,  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver, 
the  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  the  legs  of  iron,  and  feet  and 
toes  partly  iron  and  partly  of  potters'  day.  This  great  image, 
whose  brightness  was  excellent,  stood  before  him,  and  the 
form  thereof  was  terrible.  "We  learn  from  the  impressions 
upon  ancient  coins  and  medals,"  says  Bishop  Newton,  "that 
cities  and  kingdoms  were  frequently  represented  by  the  figures 
of  men  and  women."  A  colossal  human  figure,  therefore, 
was  not  an  improper  emblem  of  human  power  and  authority; 
and  the  various  metals  of  which  this  great  image  was  com- 
posed, not  unaptly  represented  the  various  kingdoms  which 
should  arise  under  the  administration  of  Eternal  Providence. 
It  consisted  of  four  different  metals,  gold,  silver,  brass,  and 
iron  mingled  with  clay:  and  the  order  of  succession  was  clearly 
denoted  by  the  arrangement  of  the  parts;  the  head  and  the 
higher  parts  representing  the  early  times,  while  the  feet  and 
the  lower  parts  represented  the  latter  ages  of  the  world.  So 
that  the  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  a  symbolical  and  pro- 
phetical history  of  the  great  ruling  empires  of  the  world,  and 
of  all  the  subordinate  states  and  kingdoms  comprehended  with- 
in their  limits,  so  far  as  the  church  of  God  is  concerned,  from 
the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  IJabylon,  through  all 
succeeding  ages,  to  tlie  triumphant  establishment  of' tlie  mil- 
lennial kingdom  of  the  Messiah;  for  the  prophecy,  as  we  are 
repeatedly  told,  reaches  to  the  time  of  the  end,  or  to  the  con- 
summation of  all  things.  The  parallel  vision  of  Daniel  was  of 
four  wild  beasts,  savage  and  ferocious,  rising  out  of  the  agita- 
tion of  a  tempestuous  sea;  and  by  the  sea,  the  prophet  tells  us, 
is  meant  multitudes  and  peoples,  and  nations.  How  graphical 
is  this  description  of  the  origin  of  empires!  For  whence  the 
rise  of  empires  but  the  agitations  and  convulsions  of  multi- 
tudes, and  peoples,  and  nations?  The  symbolical  animals  were 
ajion,  a  bear,  a  leopard,  and  a  huge  monster,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  corresponding  vision  in  the  book  of  the  Revelation, 


2^  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

was  a  horrid  compound  of  the  worst  qualities  of  his  prede- 
cessors. 

The  image  of  gold  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  was  sym- 
bolical of  the  Babylonian  monarchy;  for  Daniel  said  unto  the 
king,  "Thou  art  this  head  of  gold;  that  is,  thou  and  thy 
dynasty."  And  as  gold  is  the  most  precious  of  metals,  in  the 
parallel  vision  of  Daniel  the  same  monarchy  is  symbolized  by 
a  lion,  the  noblest  of  animals;  a  lion,  having  eagle's  wings, 
denoting  rapidity  of  conquest,  and,  perhaps  also,  protection 
afibrded  to  conquered  nations;  while  the  dignity  of  the  em- 
blem, in  both  cases,  expressed  the  wealth,  the  powei,  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  empire:  thus  Isaiah  calls  Babylon,  the  golden 
city,  and  Daniel  said  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  "Thou  art  a  king  of 
kings.'"' 

The  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  symbolized  the  Medo-Persian 
monarchy,  founded  by  Cyrus  the  Great,  whose  name  is  ex- 
pressly mentioned  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  more  than  a  hundred 
years  before  he  was  born;  and  as  silver  is  inferior  to  gold, 
Daniel  informs  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  this  second  kingdom 
should  be  inferior  to  the  Babylonian  monarchy,  that  is,  inferior 
in  wealth  and  dignity,  though  more  destructive.  Accordingly, 
in  the  parallel  vision  of  Daniel,  the  same  monarchy  is  sym- 
bolized by  a  bear,  which  is  inferior  in  dignity  to  the  lion,  but 
more  savage  and  rapacious, — a  bear  standing  erect,  and  raising 
one  side,  or,  (as  it  is  rendered  in  the  margin)  one  dominion 
higher  than  the  other,  denoting  the  insidious  rise  of  the  Persian, 
over  the  Median  kingdom,  for  which  reason,  the  united  king- 
dom is  afterwards  called,  not  the  Median,  but  the  Persian 
Empire.  The  rapacious  animal  had  three  ribs,  in  the  mouth 
of  it,  between  the  teeth  of  it;  typifying,  says  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
— Babylon,  Lybia,  and  Egypt;  which  the  Persian  bear  first 
conquered,  and  then  ground  with  oppression  and  cruelty. 

The  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  symbolized  the  Greek,  or 
Macedonian  monarchy,  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
is  called  by  Daniel,  the  King  of  Grecia.  As  brass  is  inferior 
to  silver,  the  Macedonian  was  still  inferior  to  the  Persian 
monarchy;  that  is,  inferior  in  wealth  and  dignity,  but  more 
martial.  Accordingly,  in  the  parallel  vision  of  Daniel,  the 
latter  monarchy  is  symbolized  by  a  leopard,  inferior  in  some 
respects  to  the  bear,  but  more  fierce,  and  more  rapid  in  its 
movements;  denoting  speed  and  impetuosity,  in  hastening  to 
drink  the  blood,  or  feed  upon  the  flesh  of  the  vanquished. 
For  this  reason,  the  ferocious  brute  had  upon  the  back  of  it, 
four  wings  of  a  swiftly  flying  fowl,  to  express  the  unparalleled 
rapidity  of  Alexander's  conquests.  On  the  wings  of  the  Mace- 
donian leopard,  he  flew  over  all  countries,  from  Illyricum,  and 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  05 

the  Adriatic  sea,  to  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  the  river  Ganges; 
and,  in  the  short  space  of  eight  or  nine  years,  suhdued  a  con- 
siderable part  of  Europe,  and  the  immense  regions  of  Asia  to 
his  sole  dominion,  and  having  performed  the  work  whereunto 
he  was  appointed,  he  died  at  Babylon,  in  the  thirty-third  year 
of  his  age.  The  symbolical  animal  had  also  four  heads,  re- 
presenting the  four  kingdoms  into  which  the  Grecian  monarchy 
was  divided,  as  w'e  know  it  was  divided,  after  tlie  death  of  its 
founder,  bv  his  four  generals;  Cassander,  reigning  over  Greece 
and  Macedon;  Lysimachus,  over  Thrace  and  Bythinia;  Ptole- 
my, over  Egypt;  and  Seleucus  over  Syria. 

The  legs" of  iron,  symbolized  the  Roman  empire  in  the 
zenith  of  its  strength;  and,  as  iron,  says  Daniel  in  his  inter- 
pretation of  the  dream,  breaketh  in  pieces  and  subdueth  all 
things,  so  this  fourth  kingdom  shall  break  in  pieces  and  subdue 
all  these,  the  gold,  the  silver,  and  the  brass;  that  is,  in  other 
words,  it  shall  surpass  in  strength,  in  cruelty,  and  military 
prowess,  all  its  predecessors,  subduing  the  Babylonian,  the 
Persian,  and  the  Macedonian  monarchies,  represented  by  these 
their  a])j)ropriate  symbols.  In  the  parallel  vision  of  the  four 
beasts,  this  last  empire  in  the  fulness  of  its  strength,  is  sym- 
bolized by  a  huge  monster,  great  and  terrible,  says  the  pro- 
phet, and  strong  exceedingly;  having  great  iron  teeth,  and 
nails  of  brass,  rending  asunder,  devouring,  and,  like  a  savage 
beast,  when  his  maw  is  satisfied,  stamping  the  residue  with  his 
feet.  What  a  terrible,  but  just  description  of  the  ravages  of 
the  Roman  power,  in  the  period  of  its  slretitrih,  when  forming 
one  vast,  united,  overwhelming  empire!  What  a  fearful  pic- 
ture of  its  sanguinary  exploits,  in  devouring  the  Babylonian 
lion,  the  Persian  bear,  the  Macedonian  leopard,  and  the  tramp- 
ling the  broken  remnants  of  these  monarchies  under  his  feet, 
is  represented  by  these  symbols!  No  wonder  that  the  mark 
of  God's  vengeance  should  be  branded  on  such  a  monster! 

The  feet  and  ten  toes,  partly  of  iron  and  partly  of  potters' 
clay,  symbolized  the  same  empire  in  the  period  of  its  weak- 
ness, when  divided  into  ten  kingdoms  by  the  irruptions  of  the 
northern  barbarians. 

In  the  parallel  vision  of  Daniel,  the  same  power,  in  the 
period  of  its  weakness,  is  typified  by  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth 
beast,  which  are  saiid,  by  the  prophet,  to  be  ten  kingdoms  that 
should  arise;  the  number  of  the  horns  corresponding  with  the 
number  of  the  toes  of  the  great  image,  and  both  equally  re- 
presenting the  ten  kingdoms,  which  formed  the  divided  \Vest- 
ern  Roman  empire.  Various  lists  of  these  kingdoms  have 
been  given  by  Machiavel,  Joseph  Mede,  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
Bishop  Newton,  Mr.  Faber,  and  others;  in  all  of  which,  the 

VOL.  II. — 32 


9(3  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

Anglo-Saxon  kingdom,  or  Great  Britain,  is  included.  But  in 
determining  the  momentous  question, — which  are  the  ten 
kingdoms  whose  destinies  are  involved  in  the  pro])hecies  of 
Daniel,  we  have  an  infallible  rule  laid  down  by  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, and  adopted  by  ]\Ir.  Frere,  to  whom  I  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  acknowledging  my  obligations,  i.  e.  the  principle  of 
a  territorial  division.*     According  to  Bishop  Chandler,  Arch- 

*  It  is  remarkable  that,  from  the  breaking'out  of  the  rage  of  modern  infidelity, 
infidels  have  been  incessantly  hurling  their  pointless  javelins  against  the  cha- 
racter of  Newton,  as  an  interpreter  of  prophecy.  AVhile  they  bovv^with  a  kind  of 
idolatrous  reverence,  before  the  shrine  of  the  author  of  the  Priiicipia,v.h\ch~ 
few  of  them  understand,  they  sneer  at  the  commentator  upon  Daniel  and  the 
Apocalypse,  of  which  they  are  still  more  ignorant.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
Newton  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  Divine  origin  of  Judaism  and  Christianity, 
and  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  With  Lord  Bacon, 
he  clearly  saw,  that  "God  had  given  to  man  a  revelation  of  his  will  in  two 
books,  each  of  which  bears  the  seal  and  impress  of  his  own  hand, — the  Book 
of  Nature  and  the  Book  of  Scripture— and  that  the  latjer  is  a  key  to  the 
former;  that  if  the  one  displays  his  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  the  other 
no  less  clearly  manifests  these  perfections  in  conjunction  with  his  holiness, 
justice,  and  mercy;  and  that  if  nature  amply  rewards  the  laborious  researches 
of  the  true  philosopher  by  her  discoveries,  the  word  of  God  can  never  disap- 
point the  expectations  of  those  who  are  exercising  the  study  of  it."  Both 
these  extraordinary  men  saw,  in  the  accompfishment  of  numerous  prophecies, 
which  eternal  wisdom  only  could  have  dictated,  a  decisive  and  a  standing 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  revelation.  Bacon,  therefore,  recommends  the  study 
of  the  prophecies,  especially  of  Daniel  and  the  Revelations,  provided  it  be 
done  with  "great  wisdom,  sobriety,  and  reverence:"  and  Newton  devoted 
several  years  of  his  life  exclusivelyto  the  study  of  Daniel  and  the  Apocalypse, 
which  he  did,  as  Bacon  recommends,  "with  great  wisdom,  sobriety,  and  re- 
verence." The  malignity  of  infidelity  was,  therefore,  determined  to  destroy 
so  great  an  authority,  by  representing  his  reverence  for  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  an  instance  of  mental  imbecility  in  the  greatest  man  that  ever  existed. 
Voltaire  took  the  lead  in  this  attack  upon  Christianity,  through  the  sides  of 
Newton;  and,  strange  to  tell,  men,  calling  themselves  Christians,  and  even 
Christian  ministers,  of  a  far  lower  grade  in  the  order  of  intellect,  have  en- 
listed themselves  into  his  ranks,  and  seconded  his  efforts;  while  infidels  look 
on  with  a  ferocious  triumph.  This  prime  intellectual  juggler,  who  drove  the 
world  into  the  frenzy  of  Atheism, — not  by  the  accuracy  of  his  reasoning,  the 
depth  of  his  philosophy,  or  the  extent  of  "his  information,  but  by  the  audacity 
of  his  false  statements,  his  artful  insinuations,  his  wilful  misrepresentation  of 
facts,  and  his  profane  wit,  which  invested  him  with  prodigious  power  in  de- 
bauching the  human  mind, — says,  with  his  usual  flippancy,  that  "Newton 
wrote  his  Comment  upon  the  Revelations  to  console  mankind  for  the  great 
superiority  that  he  had  over  them  in  other  respects.-'  He  then  gives  an  in- 
stance of'ihat  skimming  the  surface  of  things,  which  characterizes  all  the 
writings  of  the  philosopher  of  Fernoy,  by  gravely  telling  us,  that  "Newton 
had  explained  the  Revelations  in  the  same  manner  with  all  those  who  went 
before  him;"  a  palpable  proof  that  he  had  never  read  the  one  or  the  others. 
Another  writer,  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  otherwise  not  destitute  of  sense, 
chatters  after  the  French  Atheist  when  he  says  that  "Sir  Isaac  Newton  paid 
a  tribute  to  the  weakness  of  human  nature  by  writing  on  the  prophecies." 
These  men  are  certainly  prodigiously  wise,  at  least  in  the  judgment  of  certain 
individuals!  And  intellectual  giants  they  certainly  are,  by  ihe  side  of  such 
dwarfs  as  Newton,  Bacon,  Boyle,  Locke,  Milton,  Selden,  and  other  imbecile 
believers  in  revelation,  who  have  hitherto  been  esteemed  the  glory  of  English 
literature.  A  transcriber  of  the  life  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  in  the  Library  of 
I'scf'id  Knowledge,  very  ingeniously  accounts  for  this  imbecility,  not  only  in 
Newton,  but  in  Boyle,  Wallis,  Barrow,  Houke,  Whiston,  and  Clarke,  from 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  27 

bishop  Usher,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  boundaries  of  the 
western  empire  extended  towards  the  west,  as  far  as  Britain, 
which  is  included  in  it;  towards  the  south,  as  far  as  the  Medi- 
terranean; northward,  as  far  as  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine; 
and  eastward,  to  the  limits  of  the  Grecian  empire. 

As  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine,  tiie 
phitform  of  the  western  empire  is  divisible  into  cxactl}^  ten 
parts  or  kingdoms,  all  of  which  have  existed  nearly  the  whole 
j)eriod  of  the  divided  empire;  these  are  Lombardy,  the  seat  of 
a  powerful  kingdom;  Ravenna,  the  seat  of  the  Exarch,  who 
reigned  over  a  great  part  of  Italy;  and  the  state  of  Rome,  the 
seat  of  the  empire;  in  addition  to  these  three,  as  Mr.  Frere 
justly  observes,  Naples  and  Tuscany  form  a  territorial  division 
of  Italy  into  five  parts;  the  other  five  kingdoms  are  France, 
Austria,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Great  Britain.  These  ten  king-, 
doms  form  a  complete  territorial  division  of  the  empire  into 
ten  parts;  and  as  no  other  ten  kingdoms  can  be  named,  upon 
the  principle  of  a  territorial  division,  if  this  be  the  correct 
principle,  of  which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  on  which  the  pro- 
phecies of  Daniel  are  to  be  interpreted,  we  may  conclude  with 
certainty,  that  these  are  the  identical  kingdoms  whose  desti- 
nies are  involved  in  the  ])rophetical  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  the  parallel  vision  of  Daniel.  Accordingly  we  shall  find 
that  they  exactly  correspond,  in  all  particulars,  with  the  cha- 
racteristics given  of  these  kingdoms  by  the  Spirit  of  prophecy. 
Some  of  them  are  strong,  having  the  iron  strength  of  the  old 
empire;  others  are  weak,  being  partly  of  iron,  and  partly  of 
potters'  clay,  or  iron  mingled  with  clay;  attempts  have  been 
often  made  to  unite  them  by  political  and  matrimonial  alliances, 
but  all  such  attempts  have  hitherto  proved  abortive.  They 
have  all  existed  as  separate  and  independent  kingdoms,  with 
the  exception  of  Ravenn;;  and  Lombardy,  which  were  early 
united  to  the  state  of  Rome,  almost  the  whole  period  of  the 
divided  empire,  and  as  such  they  still  exist  to  this  day;  France, 
Austria,  the  three  Papal  states,  Naples,  Tuscany,  Portugal, 
Spain,  and  Great  Britain.  The  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
the  vision  of  Daniel,  alike  contain  a  symbolical  and  prophetical 
history  of  the   great  ruling  empires  of  the  world,  from  the 


ihe  prejudices  of  the  limes  in  which  they  lived;  most  unaccountably  forget- 
tinpr,  that  some  of  the  most  subtle,  and  what  this  gentleman  would,  perhaps, 
call  the  ablest  attacks  upon  Christianity,  had  been  sent  into  the  world  in  their 
days.  No  man  can  have  read  Newton's  Commentaries  upon  Daniel  and  the 
Apocalypse,  with  his  Key  to  the  Prophecies,  without  a  conviction,  that  he  has 
discovered  as  much  patient  investigation,  depth  of  research,  accuracy  of  dis- 
^criraination,  philosophical  acumen,  and  every  combination  of  intellectual 
"power,  in  those  works,  as  in  any  of  his  mathematical  problems,  or  his  philo- 
sophical disquisitions. 


28 


THE  DESTINIES  OF 


reign  of  the  king  of  Babylon  to  the  time  of  the  end,  or  the 
trium])hant  establishment  of  the  millennial  kingdom  of  the 
JVIessiah.  Yet  here  is  no  tautology.  The  one  prophecy  is 
not  a  repetition  of  the  other.  The  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
is  merely  the  secular  history  of  these  empires,  introducing  at 
the  close,  the  millennial  kingdom  of  our  Redeemer;  that  of 
Daniel  exhibits  both  their  ecclesiastical  and  their  secular  iiis- 
tory.  Hence,  while  the  prophet  is  gazing  with  awe  and 
wonder  on  the  monster  rising  out  of  the  sea,  with  his  ten 
horns,  typical  of  the  ten  kingdoms  of  the  divided  empire, 
rising  out  of  the  floods  and  seas  of  Gothic  invasion;  he  beholds, 
with  increased  astonishment,  another  little  horn  creeping  up, 
slowly  and  by  stealth,  among  the  ten  horns,  eradicating  three 
of  them  in  its  progress,  and  taking  possession  of  the  places 
w^hich  they  occupied.  This  prophetical  symbol  is  described 
as  having  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man;  a  mouth  speaking  great 
things;  a  look  more  stout  than  his  fellows;  speaking  great 
things  against  the  JMost  High;  wearing  out  the  saints  of  the 
JVIost  High;  changing  times,  and  laws,  and  seasons,  for  a  time, 
and  times,  and  the  dividing,  or  the  one  half  of  a  time.  The 
power  symbolized  by  this  little  monster  can  be  no  other  than 
the  Papacy,  insidiously  rising  among  the  ten  kingdoms  of  the 
divided  empire,  subverting  three  of  them,  and  taking  posses- 
sion of  their  territories;  these  are  Ravenna,  Lombardy,  and 
the  state  of  Rome,  whi'ch  now  form  the  secular  kingdom  of 
the  Roman  pontiff;  and  by  wearing  a  triple  crown,  the  insignia 
of  three  kingdoms,  the  Popes,  by  a  strange  infatuation,  prove 
to  all  the  world  that  they  are  the  power  described  in  this  pro- 
phecy. The  horn  was  a  little  horn;  accordingly,  the  territory 
of  the  Pope  has  always  been  very  inconsiderable,  and  makes 
but  a  small  figure  in  the  general  map  of  the  empire.  It  had 
eves  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  expressive  of  its  episcopal  cha- 
racter, as  a  bishop  or  overseer,  as  the  word  signifies;  and  also 
political  intrigue,  sagacity,  ambition,  constant  watchfulness, 
and  a  shar]i  look  out  to  guard  against  the  circumvention  of  an 
enemy,  and  to  turn  every  thing  to  its  own  advantage.  A  mouth, 
speaking  great  things;  i.  e.  the  thunders,  the  anathemas,  and 
the  blaspliemies,  of  the  Vatican;  at  whicli  the  kingdoms  of 
the  empire  have  often  stood  aghast,  and  trembled  in  ever}'' 
nerve;  and  by  which  they  have  not  unfrequently  been  con- 
vulsed and  deluged  with  blood.  A  look,  moi'e  stout  than  his 
fellows;  assuming  a  superiority,  not  only  over  his  fellow- 
bishops,  but  over  his  fellow-jirinces;  exacting  greater  homage 
than  was  ever  paid  to  kings  and  emperors,  and  even  demand- 
ing the  homage  of  kings  and  emperors  themselves.  Speaking 
great  words  against  the  Most  High;  arrogating  divine  titles 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  29 

and  attributes;  exacting  passive  obedience,  upon  pain  of  death, 
to  its  decrees  and  ordinances,  in  open  violation  of  scriptural 
and  common  sense;  insulting  man,  and  blasj)heming  God. 
Wearing  out  the  saints  of  the  JMost  High,  by  wars,  massacres, 
and  inquisitions;  persecuting  and  destroying  all  who  presumed 
to  disi)utc  the  infallibility  of  his  decisions.  Changing  times, 
and  laws,  and  seasons;  ''appointing,"  says  ]Mcde,  and  Bishop 
Newton,  "fasts  and  festivals;  canonizing  saints;  changing  the 
calendar;  altering  the  canon  of  scripture;  granting  indulgcn- 
cies  and  pardons  for  the  worst  of  crimes;  ingrafting  upon  the 
jnire  and  simple  rites  of  Christianit}^  the  abominations  and 
idolatries  of  Paganism,  and  reversing,  at  pleasure,  the  laws  of 
God  and  man."  And  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hands,  says 
the  prophet;  i.  c.  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  the  times,  the 
laws,  and  the  seasons — for  a  time,  or  a  prophetic  year;  and 
times,  or  two  prophetic  years:  and  the  dividing  of  a  time,  or 
one  half  of  a  prophetic  year;  which,  reckoning  a  year  for  a 
day,  according  to  the  prophetic  mode  of  computation,  amount 
to  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  natural  years;  the  precise  period 
mentioned,  no  less  than  six  times,  by  Daniel  and  St.  John,  as 
the  period  of  the  domination  of  Popery.  Could  we  ascertain 
the  date  when  this  mysterious  period  commenced,  we  should 
find  no  difficulty  in  deciding  with  certainty  when  it  will  ter- 
minate; or  whether  it  be  passed,  as  some  suppose;  or  how 
nearly  its  course  is  run  out;  and,  consequently,  in  what  age  of 
the  world  we  are  now  living.  Perhaps,  in  the  course  of  these 
lectures,  I  may  presume  to  state  my  own  views  upon  this 
most  contested  point. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  conclusion  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream,  which  Daniel  also  beheld  in  prophetic  vision,  that  he 
might  interpret  its  meaning.  While  gazing  with  fear  and  con- 
sternation, on  tlio  great  and  terrible  image,  he  saw  a  little 
stone,  emblem  of  the  millennial  kingdom  of  our  Redeemer,  at 
first  inconsiderable  in  appearance,  cut  out  of  the  mountain, 
emblem  of  the  Roman  empire,  of  which  Judea,  where  the 
Prince  of  Peace  w^as  born,  was  a  province;  cut  out  without 
hands,  or  without  human  agency;  which  smote  the  feet  and 
toes  of  the  image,  and  brake  them  to  pieces.  It  is  beyond  all 
doubt,  that  the  jjrophet  considered  the  image  as  still  standing, 
and  the  toes  of  tliefeet,  on  which  the  image  stood,  as  yet  all 
remaining.  He  does  not  say,  seven,  or  six,  or  five,  which. yet 
remained,  but  that  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain,  fell  upon 
the  toes,  and  brake  them  in  pieces.  Again,  he  says,  in  the  ex- 
j)lanation  of  the  prophecy — In  the  days  of  those  kings,  or 
kingdoms,  represented  by  the  ten  toes  of  the  image,  shall  the 
God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  i.  e.  the  visible,  millennial 
32* 


3Q  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

kingdom  of  Christ,  which  must  displace  other  kingdoms,  in 
■  order  to  its  universal  establishment,  which  shall  break  in  pieces 
and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever. 
Here  is  not  a  word  to  intimate  that  any  of  the  kingdoms 
typified  by  the  ten  toes  had  been  separated  before  this  destruc- 
tion, and  therefore  escaped  the  fearful  catastrophe.  The  con- 
clusion, therefore,  that  candour  must  draw,  is,  that  the  stone 
fell  upon  them  all..  But  let  us  again  hear  the  words  of  the 
prophet: — "Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver, 
and  the  gold,  broken  logelher;  and  hecame  as  the  chaff  of  the 
summer  thrashing  floors,  and  the  wind  carried  them  away,  and 
no  place  was  found  for  them."  My  fellow-citizens!  is  the 
fate  of  Great  Britain  involved  in  this  prophecy,  or  is  it  not? 
Judge  for  yourselves,  but  judge  with  candour  and  impartialit5^ 
Now  turn  to  the  conclusion  of  Daniel's  vision;  I  beheld, 
till  the  thrones  were  set,  and  the  Ancient  of  Bays  did  sit, — 
the  eternal  God,  in  whose  infinite  duration,  the  past,  the  pre- 
sent, and  the  future,  are  absorbed  and  lost; — his  raiment  was 
white  as  snow,  the  emblem  of  perfect  purity  and  perfect  jus- 
tice; his  garment  was  white  as  wool,  alluding  to  the  venerable 
appearance  of  the  president  of  the  high  court  of  sanhedrim, 
during  the  great  national  assize;  his  throne  was  like  the  fiery 
flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning  fire;  a  fiery  stream  issued, 
and  came  forth  from  before  him,  denoting  the  consuming 
splendours  of  his  holiness,  and  the  terrors  of  his  avenging 
justice;  thousands  of  thousands  stood  before  him,  ten  thousand 
times  ten  tiiousand  ministered  unto  him;  the  judgment  was 
set,  and  the  books  were  opened.  How  awful  is  this  descrip- 
tion! Did  the  language  of  inspiration  itself  ever  rise  to  higher 
sui)limity?  Is  not  this  the  day  of  judgment?  Yes,  verily; 
but  the  day  of  judgment  is  not  a  day  composed  of  four-and- 
twent}'  hours.  To  suppose  this,  would  be  the  height  of  ab- 
surdity. Yet  such  is  a  very  common  opinion.  The  day  of  a 
man's  deatli  is,  to  him,  the  day  of  judgment.  Ere  his  body 
is  committed  to  the  grave,  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  and 
dust  to  dust,  his  judgment  is  passed,  his  doom  is  irrevocably 
fixed.  "For  it  is  appointed  unto  all  men  once  to  die,  and  after 
that  the  judgment."  But  nations  exist  in  this  world,  only  in 
their  national  capacity;  and,  therefore,  in  their  national  capa- 
city, in  this  world,  only  can  they  be  judged.  Nations,  as  well 
as  men,  lie  under  one  common  doom;  and  the  judge  of  all  the 
earth  holds  assizes  over  particular  nations  at  ditferent  periods 
of  the  world's  duration.  The  times  of  the  destruction  of  the 
world,  by  the  Deluge;  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  by  fire  from 
heaven;  of  Egypt,  Babylon,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Nineveh,  Persia, 
Greece,  Jerusalem,  and  Rome,  are  called  their  days  of  judg- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  3| 

ment,  and  are  described  and  foretold  by  the  same  proplietical 
symbols.  The  judg;mcnt  of  God,  in  fact,  is  a  scries  of  judicial 
inflictions,  beginning  with  the  Deluge,  and  going  on  to  the 
commencement  of  the  IMiliennium;  tlien  commencing  a  new 
series,  and  terminating  at  the  close  of  the  Millennium  in  the 
wonders  of  that  day,  when  all  the  dead,  both  small  and  great, 
shall  stand  before  God.  The  judgment  described  in  this  pass- 
age, with  such  awful  and  tremendous  majesty,  is  that  which 
will  be  executed  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the 
appearing  of  his  kingdom. 

The  character  of  the  delinquent  to  be  judged,  chargeable 
with  the  crimes  of  a  thousand  ages;  the  terribleness  of  the 
judgment  to  be  executed,  and  the  magnitude  of  the  events 
which  are  speedily  tO' follow,  fully  justify  the  peculiar  solem- 
nity with  which  it  is  introduced.  ]3ut  hear  the  language  of 
the  prophet — 1  beheld,  that  because  of  the  voice  of  the  words 
which  tire  little  horn  spake, — i.  c,  the  blasphemies,  the  san- 
guinary and  idolatrous  decretals  of  the  Papacy;  I  beheld,  and 
io!  till  the  beast  with  the  ten  horns  was  slain,  and  his  body 
given  to  the  burning  flame.  In  the  corresponding  vision  of 
St.  John,  in  the  book  of  the  Revelation,  the  entranced  prophet 
saw  the  beast  with  the  ten  horns,  and  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth,  and  their  armies,  and  the  false  prophet,  another  emblem 
of  Popery,  or  of  Popery  conjoined  with  Infidelity,  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire,  burning  with  brimstone.  The  total  annihila- 
tion of  these  kingdoms  is  here  expressed,  by  the  strongest 
images  that  language  or  nature  can  furnish.  In  the  vision  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  they  are  broken  in  pieces,  ground  to  powder, 
and  carried  awa}',  so  that  no  place  is  found  for  them.  In  that 
of  Daniel,  they  are  consumed  by  fire,  which  destroj's  so  com- 
pletely as  to  leave  no  vestige  of  that  \vhich  is  consumed.  My 
fellow  countrymen!  when  we  recollect  that  in  the  various  lists 
of  these  kingdoms  hitherto  given  to  the  world  by  Infidels  and 
Christians,  by  Catholics  and  Protestants,  by  Englishmen  and 
Foreigners,  statesmen  and  historians.  Great  Britain  is  ihcluded, 
I  ask  again,  is  the  destiny  of  the  British  empire'  involved  in 
this  prophecy?  Again  I  leave  you  to  judge  for  yourselves, 
and  again  I  request  you  to  judge  with  candour  and  without 
national  prejudice. 

But  was  not  Britain,  it  may  bo  asked,  separated  from  the 
Papal  empire  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation?  At  the  very 
dawn  of  the  Reformation,  was  she  not  the  great  bulwark  of 
Protestantism?  And,  therefore,  although  originall}'^  one  of 
the  ten  horns,  may  she  not  have  been  torn  from  ofi'  the  head 
of  the  symbolical  monster?  Would  to  God  I  could  answer 
this  question  in  the  affirmative!     This  is  not  a  vain  aspiration. 


32  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

The  love  of  my  country  is  not  a*  sentiment,  but  a  strong  pas- 
sion, which  glows  in  this  heart  with  a  fervour  which  nothing 
but  death  can  extinguish.  I,  therefore,  rejDeat,  would  to  God 
I  could  reply  in  the  affirmative!  But  your  time  admonishes 
me  to  hasten  to  a  conclusion.  In  our  next  lecture,  by  divine 
permission,  we  shall  pursue  the  momentous  enquiry,  so  deeply 
interesting  to  every  Briton  who  loves  his  country,  and  to  every 
Christian  who  is  waiting  for  the  coining  of  his  Lord,  and  the 
appearing  of  his  kingdom,  and  whose  earnest  and  fervent 
prayer  is.  Thy  kingdom  come,  that  thy  will  may  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 

From  what  has  been  already  advanced,  we  may  infer,  with 
certainty,  the  doctrine  of  a  National  Providence.  It  is  pleas- 
ing to  observe  a  doctrine  so  consonant  to  reason,  and  so  con- 
solatory to  the  heart  of  a  Christian,  especially  in  times  like 
the  present,  confirmed  by  tlie  uniform  testimony  of  the  in- 
spired writers.  "The  kingdom,"  says  David,'  *'is  the  Lord's, 
and  he  is  Governor  among  the  nations.  He  holdeth  the  times 
and  the  seasons  in  his  power;  he  changeth  the  times  and  the 
seasons;  he  setteth  up  kings,  he  putteth  down  kings,  and  none 
can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him— what  doest  thou?"  "The 
Most  High,"  said  Nebuchadnezzar,  after  the  brightness  of  his 
understanding  was  restored;  "tlie  Most  High  ruleth  in  tlic 
kingdoms  of  men,  and  giveth  them  to  whomsoever  he  will." 
The  same  doctrine  was  stated  by  the  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  in  his  admirable  speech  addressed  to  the  Athenian 
philosophers — "God,"  says  he,  "has  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
has  determined  the  times  before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of 
their  habitation;  that  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they 
might  feel  after  him,  and  find  him,  though  he  be  not  dxr  from 
any  one  of  them,  for  in  him  they  live,  and  move,  and  have 
their  being."  The  Scriptures  abound  with  promises  of  pro- 
tection and  national  prosperity  to  righteous  nations,  and  with 
denunciations  of  wrath  and  vengeance  against  the  wicked  and 
impenitent;  and  it  is  well  known  that  neither  these  promises 
nor  these  threatcnings  were  in  vain.  The  history  of  the  Jewish 
people,  from  their  departure  out  of  Egypt  to  this  day,  is  a 
standing  evidence  of  this  important  and  consolatory  doctrine 
to  all  the  nations  among  whom  they  are  scattered.  The  four 
ruling  monarchies  of  the  world,  which  are  the  subject  of  this 
prophecy,  were  but  mighty  engines  in  the  hand  of  the  Almighty 
to  execute  his  purposes,  whether  of  judgment  or  of  mercy, 
upon  the  Jews  and  other  civil  communities,  and  to  prepare  the 
way  gradually  for  the  establishment  of  a  kingdom  of  a  ver}' 
diflerent  nature,  and  f;u-  superior  to  them  all  in  solid  glory,  in 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  '33 

real  grandeur,  in  duration,  in  extent  of  dominion.  Their  rise 
and  fall  were  distinctly  foretold  by  the  Hebrew  prophets,  long 
before  they  existed,  and,  as  hath  often  been  observed,  such  mea 
as  Nebuchadnezzar,  Cyrus,  Alexander,  Titus,  Vespasian,  and 
all  the  Greek  and  Roman  heroes,  were  so  many  a<r;ents  in  the 
hands  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  raised  up  at  sundry  times, 
and  furnislied  with  necessary  qualifications,  to  accomjilish  vvhat 
his  hand  and  counsel  had  before  determined  to  be  done.  With 
what  awful  and  impressive  majesty  does  he  assert  this  branch 
of  his  higli  prerogative,  as  the  Sovereign  of  the  world,  by  the 
mouth  of  his  prophet  Isaiah, — "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going  down  thereof,  I  am  God, 
and  there  is  none  else;  I  form  the  light,  and  I  create  darkness; 
I  make  peace,  and  I  create  evil;  1  vvound,  and  I  heal;  1  kill, 
and  I  make  alive:  I  the  Lord  do  all  these  things."  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  that  maketh  all  things;  that  stretcheth  forth 
the  heavens  alone;  that  spreadeth  abroad  the  earth  by  myself; 
that  frustrateth  the  tokens  of  tlie  liars,  and  maketh  diviners 
mad;  that  turneth  wise  men  backwards,  and  maketh  their 
knowledge  foolish;  that  confirmeth  the  word  of  his  servant, 
and  performeth  the  counsel  of  his  messengers."  Hence  we 
learn  that  the  common  vicissitudes  of  light  and  darkness,  of 
peace  and  war,  of  victory  and  defeat,  of  plenty  and  famine,  of 
life  and  death,  of  political  changes  and  state  revolutions;  the 
talents  of  the  mighty,  and  the  imbecility  of  the  weak;  the 
vices  and  the  virtues  of  mankind;  and  all  those  minute  pivots, 
scarcely  perceptible  to  human  sagacity,  on  which  the  destinies 
of  empires  revolve:  all,  in  short,  that  men  call  chance,  acci- 
dent, or  fortune,  are  under  the  control  of  an  invisible  and 
Almighty  hand,  which,  without  breaking  in  upon  the  esta- 
blished laws  of  nature,  or  intrenching  on  the  freedom  of 
human  actions,  makes  them  all  subservient  to  the  purposes  of 
infinite  wisdom,  and  perfect  goodness,,  in  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  the  universe. 

In  the  history  of  the  four  great  monarchies  to  which  our 
text  refers,  we  see  this  sublime  truth  exemplified  in  the  most 
striking  manner.  "They  form,  as  it  were,"  says  Bossuet,  and, 
after  him,  the  late  Bishop  Porteus,  "one  vast  mdp  of  providen- 
tial administration,  delineated  on  so  large  a  scale,  and  marked 
with  such  legible  characters,  that  it  cannot  possibly  escape  our 
observation."  This  map  has  been  held  up  before  the  eyes  of 
all  nations,  for  the  space  of  nearly  three  thousand  years,  to 
confront  the  feeble  cavils  of  atheism,  and  to  confirm  the  scrip- 
tural doctrine  of  a  National  Providence. 

There  is,  then,  my  fellow  countrymen,  a  God  who  judgeth 
in  the  earth.     The  world  which  we  inhabit  is  not  a  fatherless 


34  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

world.  There  is  an  Omniscient  eye  above,  watching  over  the 
destinies  of  empires,  that  never  slumbers  nor  sleeps.  There 
is  an  arm  that  reacheth  down  from  heaven  to  earth,  which  is 
everywhere  employed;  in  the  regions  of  the  air, — in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth, — in  the  abysses  of  the  ocean, — in  the 
cabinets  of  princes, — in  the  defeats  and  victories  of  contend- 
ing armies, — and,  in  the  passions  of  the  human  heart;  the  arm 
of  Providence  is  felt,  in  making  the  wrath  of  man  to  piaise 
him,  and  restraining  the  residue  thereof;  in  bringing  lasting 
good  out  of  transitory  evil,  and  overruling  all  things  for  the 
salvation  of  them  that  love  God,  and  are  called  according  to 
his  purpose.  Nothing  is  casual  or  accidental;  what  we  call 
chance  is  really  Providence,  executing  its  own  purposes,  and 
concealing  its  agency,  under  the  operation  of  second  causes. 
Here  is  firm  fooling!  here  is  solid  rock!  when  the  foundations 
of  the  political  earth  are  shaken,  and  the  political  heavens  are 
rolled  together  as  a  scroll.  Amidst  war  and  peace,  plenty  and 
famine,  amidst  the  persecutions  and  prosperity  of  the  church, 
amidst  the  wrecks  of  states  and  empires,  we  trace  the  footsteps 
of  God,  and  triumphantly  sing.  Hallelujah,  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth. 

We  learn,  secondly,  the  subserviency  of  all  great  political 
changes  to  the  final  establishment  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom. 
The  flowing  of  the  deluge,  the  separation  of  the  sons  of  Noah, 
and  the  partition  of  tbe  earth  amongst  its  inhabitants;  the 
plagues  of  Egypt,  the  redemption  of  Israel,  and  the  miraculous 
passage  through  the  Red  Sea;  the  miracles  of  the  wilderness, 
the  pi'omulgation  of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  settle- 
ment of  the  church  in  the  land  of  Canaan;  the  elevation  of 
David  to  the  throne,  the  succession  of  the  royal  seed,  and  the 
dissolution  of  the  royalty;  the  captivity  of  Judah  in  Babylon, 
the  overthrow  of  the  Babylonian  monarchy,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  chosen  nation  to  their  own  land,  in  which  the  great 
]Messiah  was  to  make  his  appearance;  the  Persian  founded 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  Babylonian,  the  Grecian  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  Persian  monarchies,  and  the  Roman  empire  upon  the 
ruins  of  them  all, — were  so  many  harbingers  of  Messiah  the 
prince,  sent  before  him,  to  clear  the  stage,  and  to  prepare  the 
way  for  his  first  advent.  The  Roman  empire,  covering  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  of  square  miles,  and  extending  over  the  richest 
and  the  most  fertile  portion  of  the  globe,  having  reached  the 
utmost  limits  assigned  by  an  eternal  Providence;  the  shaking 
of  the  nations,  whicli  had  continued  without  intermission  from 
the  day  when  Nebuchadnezzar  began  his  career  of  victory, 
settled  into  a  profound  and  general  tranquillity;  the  gates  of 
the  temj)le  of  war  were  closed,  and  peace  was  universally  pro- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  35 

claimed;  the  waves  of  this  tempestuous  world  ceased  from 
tossing  themselves,  and  a  delightful  calm  ensued,  like  the  still- 
ness of  that  hallowed  night  in  which  the  Prince  of  Peace  was 
born;  when  angels  descended  from  heaven,  singing  "Glory- 
to  God  in  the  higliest,  on  earth  peace,  and  good  will  towards 
men.*'  ]Jy  the  universality,  and  the  firmness,  and  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  Roman  empire;  by  the  union  and  the  subjec- 
tion of  so  many  distant  nations,  under  one  sceptre;  l)y  the 
similarity  of  laws,  language,  and  manners;  by  the  complete 
security  which  tlie  Roman  government  aflbrdcd  to  life  and 
properly;  and  by  the  facility  of  communication  between  the 
capital  and  the  remotest  provinces, — the  Roman  world  was 
laid  open  to  the  labours  of  the  apostles;  who,  being  endowed 
with  miraculous  powers,  spread  the  gospel  of  their  Master's 
kingdom  with  such  amazing  rapidity,  that  within  the  space  of 
forty  years  after  his  ascension  into  heaven,  according  to  his 
own  prediction,  it  was  planted  in  all  the  provinces  and  nations 
of  the  western  and  eastern  branches  of  that  immense  empire. 
Christianity  being  thus  firmly  established,  and  the  purpose 
of  infinite  wisdom  accomplished,  that  immense  accumulation 
of  power  was  overthrown,  with  a  mighty  desolation,  and 
divided  into  the  kingdoms  which  subsist  around  us  to  this 
day.  Another  paramount  dominion  was  yet  to  be  created, 
even  more  extensive,  at  least  in  influence,  though  less  com- 
pact, than  that  of  Rome,  and,  like  tlie  Roman  empire,  destined 
to  perform  a  work  of  vast  importance,  in  the  arrangement  of 
Divine  Providence — The  British  Empire;  which  in  dominion, 
or  political  importance,  or  commercial  influence,  extends  over 
tlie  whole  world.  By  extending  this  empire  to  every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and  by  the  joint  efforts  ofother  European  states, 
many  countries  having  been  discovered,  utterly  unknown  to 
our  ancestors;  by  opening  ;i  commercial,  or  at  least  a  friendly, 
intercourse,  betwixt  Britain  and  these  remote  countries,  and 
by  the  appearance  of  Europeans,  becoming  daily  more  familiar 
to  these  foreigners,  and  their  visits  rather  the  objects  of  desire 
than  of  alarm;  by  making  these  heathens  acquainted  with 
some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity,  at  different 
times,  by  some  Christians  occasionally  visiting,  or  residing 
among  them,  for  commercial  purposes;  but  chiefly  by  the 
efforts  of  Christian  missionaries,  sent  by  various  societies  with 
that  express  design;  and  by  exciting  of  late  the  general  atten- 
tion of  the  religious  world,  especially  in  Great  Britain,  and 
engaging  many  of  the  most  zealous,  and  even  the  most  en- 
lightened Christians,  of  almost  all  denominations,  in  pursuing 
these  missionary  purposes,  with  ardour  and  perseverance,  and 
by  the  success  attending  their  labours,  especially  in  the  islands 


36  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

of  the  Pacific, — God  is  now  preparing  the  way  for  the  final 
and  universal  establishment  of  that  kingdom,  which  shall  never 
be  destroyed,  and  that  dominion  which  shall  never  pass  away. 

This  is  the  highest,  and  the  most  honourable,  destiny  of 
our  beloved  country.  "She  is  the  ambassador  of  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  to  the  heathen  world."  In  her  bosom,  a  new  and  holy 
impulse  was  given  to  the  heart  of  the  Christian  church,  whose 
vibrations  shall  never  cease,  until  the  mystery  of  God  is  finish- 
ed. On  her  altars  au  hallowed  flame  has  been  kindled,  which 
shall  never  be  extinguished,  till  all  nations  have  seen  the  light, 
and  felt  its  genial  influence.  Then  the  little  stone,  cut  out  of 
the  mountain  without  hands,  having  broken  in  pieces  and  dis- 
placed every  rival  power,  shall  become  a  great  mountain — an 
empire  of  righteousness  and  love,  which  shall  fill  the  whole 
earth. 

Then  judgment  having  been  pronounced,  and  executed  upon 
the  papal  and  infidel  kingdoms  of  the  western  Roman  empire, 
the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  to  receive 
a  kingdom,  a  dominion,  and  glory;  and  all  nations,  and  king- 
doms, and  peoples,  and  languages  shall  serve  him;  and  the 
greatness  of  the  dominion  under  the  whole  heavens  shall  be 
given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  he  shall  reigu  for 
ever  and  ever.  This  is  the  blessed  consummation  to  which 
all  the  revolutions  of  states  and  empires  are  subordinate,  and 
in  which  they  shall  all' terminate;  this  is  the  restitution  of  all 
things  of  which  all  the  prophets  have  spoken  since  the  world 
began.  To  conclude:  The  Lord  reigneth.  He  is  clothed 
with  glory,  honour,  and  majesty.  Nations  rise  and  fall  at  his 
command.  He  holdeth  in  his  Almighty  hand  the  keys  of  the 
visible  and  invisible  worlds.  Let  the  righteous,  who  can  say 
this  God  is  our  God,  rejoice  in  every  vicissitude;  nor  let  them 
act  so  inconsistently  with  their  principles,  or  their  profession, 
as  to  suffer  any  outward  calan)ity  to  make  any  deep  and  last- 
ing impression  upon  their  inward  peace  and  tranquillity.  The 
destiny  of  your  beloved  country  may  seem  to  be  oscillating  in 
the  balance;  but  are  not  those  perfections  which  pilot  the  great 
vessel  of  the  universe  suflicient  to  guide  the  vessel  of  the  state, 
and  to  conduct  your  little  bark  safely  into  harbour?  Rejoice, 
too,  in  the  assurance  that  the  kingdom  of  your  beloved  Re- 
deemer shall  come,  with  power  and  great  glory;  that  the 
])rayer  which  he  taught  his  disciples  to  present  before  he  left 
the  habitations  of  mortal  men,  to  intercede  for  them  above, 
which  they  have  been  oflering  up  nearly  two  thousand  years, 
and  which  you  have  often  preferred  before  his  throne,  shall  be 
answered  in  its  largest  extent,  but  which  never  has  yet  been 
answeredj  when  your  Father's  name  shall  be  hallowed  from 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  37 

the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof;  when  his 
will  shall  be  done  on  earth  by  men,  as  it  is  done  in  heaven  by 
the  angels  of  God;  when  the  whole  family  of  man  shall  unite 
in  ascribing  unto  him  that  sitteth  ujjon  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb,  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for 
ever.     Amen. 


LECTURE  II. 

Daniel  ii.  44. 

^^And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up 
a  kingdom,"  6fC. 

The  most  beautiful  eye,  that  the  power  of  the  Creator  ever 
formed  in  the  human  countenance,  if  torn  from  its  socket, 
would  be  a  frightful  object.  In  this  manner,  passages  of  scrip- 
ture are  often  mangled  by  being  severed  from  their  connec- 
tion, and  thus  their  meaning  is  obscured,  and  their  beauty  is 
lost;  and  the  fair  and  lovely  symmetry,  of  that  glorious  reve- 
lation to  which  they  belong,  is  mutilated  and  destroyed.  While 
this  remark  is  applicable  to  the  exposition  of  scripture  in  gene- 
ral, it  applies,  with  a  peculiar  force,  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  prophetical  writings.  Against  this  mangling  of  sacred 
prophecy,  we  are  solemnly  admonished  by  the  apostle  Peter, 
in  a  passage,  the  meaning  of  which  does  not  lie  open  to  com- 
mon observation,  recorded  in  his  second  general  epistle.  After 
speaking  of  the  wonders  Qf  the  transfiguration,  and  the  voice 
from  the  excellent  glory,  he  adds, — "We  have  also  a  sure  word 
of  prophecy,  wheieunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed  (and  not 
like  many  in  the  present  day,  who  treat  it  with  contempt),  as 
unto  a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  (a  heavenly  torch, 
held  out  amidst  surrounding  darkness,)  until  the  day  dawn,  and 
the  day  star  arise  in  your  hearts."  Knowing  this,  first — not 
merely  in  order  of  time,  but  especially  in  order  of  importance 
— that  no  prophecy  of  the  scripture  is  of  any  private  interpre- 
tation,— or,  as  Bishop  Horsley  renders  the  passage,  no  insu- 
lated prophecy  of  scripture  is  its  own  interpreter;  it  contains 
not  within  itself  the  elements  of  its  own  exposition;  its  mean- 
ing cannot  be  elicited  by  any  criticism  upon  the  words  in  which 
4t  is  conveyed;  it  does  not,  in  fact,  carry  in  its  girdle  the  key 
of  its  own   interpretation.     How  then  is  it  to  be  explained? 

VOL.  II. — 33 


38  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

Certainly,  by  restoring  it  to  the  paragraph  in  which  it  stands, 
and  to  the  sacred  book  to  which  it  belongs;  by  comparing  it 
with  parallel  predictions,  and  by  viewing  it  in  connection  with 
the  great  system  of  prophecy,  which  pervades  the  whole  sacred 
volume,  from  the  first  prediction  of  the  seed  of  the  woman 
bruising  the  serpent's  head,  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  l:)Ook  of 
Genesis,  to  the  final  triumpli  of  tiie  seed  of  the  woman,  in  the 
glories  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  described,  by  the  Spirit  of  pro- 
phecy, in  the  closing  chapters  of  the  book  of  Revelation. 

A  satisfactory  and  sublime  reason  is  next  assigned  by  the 
apostle,  why  no  particular  prophecy  is,  or  can  be  its  own  in- 
terpreter. For  prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will  of 
man;  not  by  the  impulse  of  phrenzy,  caprice,  or  fanaticism; 
it  was  not  the  result  of  human  genius,  sagacity,  or  foresight, 
nor  in  any  way  the  work  of  man's  understanding,  or  man 
might  easily  have  perceived  its  meaning,  vvLlhout  further  la- 
bour or  assistance.  But  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost, — that  eternal  Spirit,  to  whose  om- 
niscient eye,  all  things  in  the  visible  and  in  visible  worlds  lie  open, 
and  who  equally  comprehends  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  fu- 
ture, in  one  eternal,  undivided  thought.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  commu- 
nication from  an  infinite  to  a  finite  intellect,  developing  an  unity 
of  design,  and  a  continuity  of  thought,  worthy  of  the  majesty 
of  its  great  author;  but  dealt  out,  as  the  learned  bishop  ex- 
presses it,  in  distinct  pa'rcels  and  portions,  adapted  to  the  feeble- 
ness of  the  human  understanding.  The  business,  therefore,  of 
the  biblical  student,  when  searching  the  scriptures,  in  obe- 
dience to  his  Lord's  command,  is  to  compare  scripture  with 
scripture,  predictions  with  their  fulfilment,  and  prophecies, 
already  fulfilled,  with  those  which  yet  remain  to  be  accom- 
plished, through  the  whole  field  of  revelation.  By  such  a 
process  only,  and  not  by  any  verbal  criticism  upon  isolated 
passages,  can  he  obtain  a  clear  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  great  system  of  prophecy  in  general,  or  of  the  precise, 
and  full,  and  sublime,  meaning  of  any  particular  prediction, 
either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament. 

To  illustrate  this  statement  by  the  works  of  such  writers  as 
Lord  Bacon,  Mr.  Locke,  Bishop  Butler,  President  Edwards, 
or  any  other  work  of  human  production,  in  which  there  is 
any  depth  of  understanding: — the  reader  cannot  understand 
aright  a  single  sentence,  in  the  elaborate  compositions  of  such 
authors,  without  viewing  it  in  connection  with  the  paragraph 
in  which  it  stands;  nor  can  he  understand  that  paragraph,  but 
in  connection  with  the  section  to  which  it  belongs;  nor  that 
section,  but  in  connection  with  the  chapter  under  which  it  is 
arranged;  nor  can  he  understand  that  chapter,  as  the  writer 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  39 

intended  it  to  be  understood,  without  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  whole  work  to  which  it  belongs.  If  such  unity  of  de- 
sign, and  continuity  of  thought,  is  sometimes  found  in  the 
productions  of  such  a  feeble  intellect  as  that  of  man,  although 
of  the  highest  order,  what  depth  of  wisdom,  and  continuity  of 
design,  may  we  not  expect  to  find  in  a  revelation  from  IJim, 
"with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day,  and  one  day  as 
a  thousand  years;"  in  which  he  has  foretold  innumerable 
events,  depending  upon  the  volitions  of  myriads  of  human 
beings,  thousands  of  years  before  they  transpired;  and  in  which 
he  has  laid  open,  not  only  the  destinies  of  nations,  and  of  the 
world,  but  the  scenes  of  an  everlasting  duration?  Success  in 
such  a  study  demands  indefatigable  diligence,  and  holy  perse- 
verance. Thus,  we  are  told,  that  the  ancient  prophets  en- 
quired, and  searched  diligently,  into  the  meaning  of  their  own 
prophecies;  with  the  intense  a|)[)lication,  and  the  patient  labour 
of  miners,  searching  for  precious  ore  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth; 
enquiring  what  things,  and  what  manner  of  time,  the  Spit  it  of 
Christ,  which  was  in  them,  did  signify,  when  it  testified,  before- 
hand, the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom, 
that  should  follow.  Humility,  reverence  for  the  word  of  Cod, 
and  fervent  prayer,  are  no  less  necessary.  Thus  Daniel  set 
his  face  to  seek  the  Lord  his  Cod,  by  prayer  and  supplication, 
when  studying  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah,  that  he  might  un- 
derstand the  number  of  years  determined,  concerning  the  deso- 
lation of  Jerusalem;  and,  also,  when  enquiring  into  the  mean- 
ing of  his  own  predictions,  and  the  time  of  their  accomplish- 
ment. "Blessed  is  he  that  thus  readeth,  and  they  that  hear 
the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those  things  which  are 
written  therein;  for  the  time  is  at  hand."  He  shall  behold 
the  beauty,  the  glory,  and  the  harmony,  of  the  holy  oracles; 
he  shall  perceive  the  seaV  of  the  Holy  Spirit  affixed  to  each 
prediction;  and  comparing  the  prophetical  intimations,  with 
the  events  of  Providence,  he  shall  see  the  seals  removed,  one 
after  another,  as  ages  revolve, — receive  increasing  confirma- 
tion of  his  faith  in  Cod, — and  behold  more  and  more  the 
majesty  of  Him  "which  is,  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come." 
On  this  principle,  we  have  already  examined  the  testimony 
of  the  prophets,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  in  con- 
firmation of  the  following  positions: — that  all  nations,  in  their 
national  capacity,  must  perish,  and  consequently  Creat  Britain; 
that  their  doom  is  pronounced  in  righteous  judgment;  because 
they  were  all  originally  founded  in  slaughter,  and  cemented 
with  human  blood,  and  are  still  maintained  by  maxims  of 
"iniquitous  policy;  that,  in  addition  to  other  crimes,  specified 
by  the  prophets,  as  the  procuring  causes  of  these  exterminating 


40  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

calamities,  the  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  nations  upon  the  house 
of  Israel,  are  particularly  mentioned;  and  tiiat,  in  the  inflic- 
tion of  these  cruelties,  Britain  has  had  her  full  share;  that 
there  is  one  exception  to  this  general  doom,  and  but  one  ex- 
ception, made  in  favour  of  the  Jewish  nation;  and  that  the 
time  of  their  restoration  to  their  own  land,  and  their  conver- 
sion to  their  fathers'  God,  is  often  mentioned  by  the  spirit  of 
prophecy,  as  the  crisis  of  all  nations,  among  whom  tiiey  are 
scattered;  that  this  controversy  with  the  guilty  nations  will  be 
decided  by  the  appearaece  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  flaming  fire^ 
taking  vengeance  upon  those  who  obey  not  the  guspel,  and 
that  with  this  guilt  Britain  is  highly  chargeable;  and  that  her 
guilt,  in  this  respect,  has  been  accumulating  for  ages;  and, 
finally,  that  scenes  of  terror,  and  of  vengeance,  will  be  suc- 
ceeded by  scenes  of  millennial  bliss  and  glory.  We  have  also 
attended  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  with  a  cup  of  trembling  and 
death  in  his  hand,  to  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  that  are 
upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  till,  in  prophetic  vision,  he 
meets  the  prophet  of  the  Apocalypse,  at  the  doom  of  mystical 
Babylon,  when  she  sinks  to  rise  no  more,  amidst  the  wailings 
and  lamentations  of  the  nations,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations, 
which  fall  at  the  same  time.  And,  on  the  same  ])rinciple, 
when  endeavouring  to  decide  the  momentous  question — 
whether  our  beloved  country  will  be  involved  in  this  v.'reck 
of  nations,  we  saw  that  Britain  is  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms 
represented  by  the  ten  toes  of  the  metallic  image  in  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's dream,  which  are  to  be  broken  to  pieces,  beat  to 
powder,  and  carried  away,  so  that  no  place  shall  be  found  for 
them;  and  typified  also  by  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast, 
in  the  parallel  vision  of  Daniel,  which  is  to  be  desti-oyed,  and 
committed  to  the  burning  flame.  On  this  question,  I  left  you 
to  form  your  own  judgment,  only  requesting  you  to  judge  with 
candour  and  impartiality.  But  was  not  Britain,  it  may  be 
asked,  separated  from  the  papal  empire  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation?  At  the  very  dawn  of  the  Reformation,  was  she 
not  the  grand  bulwark  of  Protestantism?  And,  therefore, 
although  originally  one  of  the  ten  horns,  may  she  not  have 
been  eradicated  from  the  head  of  the  symbolical  monster? 
Happy  should  I  be  could  I  answer  this  question  in  the  affirma- 
tive. God  of  his  mercy  grant  that  it  may  prove  so,  in  the 
final  issue  of  these  awful  dispensations  which  are  coming  upon 
the  world! 

But  in  what,  may  I  bo  permitted  to  ask,  did  our  separation 
from  the  church  of  Rome  principally  and  essentially  consist? 
Did  it  not  principally  and  essentially  consist  in  the  transfer  of 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  41 

the  headship  of  the  church  from  a  priest  to  a  layman, — from  a 
foreign  pontiff  to  a  Biilish  monarch, — from  tiie  Pope  of  Rome 
to  Henry  the  Eighth?  And  is  such  a  separation  as  this  suffi- 
cient to  defeat  the  accomplishment  of  the  word  of  God?  And 
what  has  been  the  conduct  of  Enghind,  and  of  the  English 
church  with  respect  to  the  ciiurch  of  Rome  since  that  period?* 
No  man  could  have  read  witli  attention  the  history  of  the 
English  hierarchy,  not  as  told  by  Baxter,  Neale,  Calamy,  and 
others,  who,  being  dissenters,  might  be  supposed  to  be  pre- 
judiced; but  by  liurnet,  Ileylin,  Collier,  and  others  of  her 
most  zealous  adherents;  witiiout  a  conviction  that  the  Church 
of  England  would,  long  ere  this  day,  have  been  perfectly  re- 
conciled to  the  see  of  Rome,  but  for  the  noble  struggles  of 
some  of  her  enlightened  members,  both  lay  and  clerical,  who 
were  coeval  with  the  High  Commission  Court  and  the  Star 
Chamber.  And  also  the  convocations  that  were  held,  during 
the  reign  of  the  last  Stuarts?  Soon  after  the  succession  of 
Elizabeth  to  the  throne  of  England,  it  was  evident  that  the 
spirit  of  Protestantism  had  evapoiated,  and  that  the  principles 
of  the  Papacy  were  revived,  in  full  vigour,  in  this  great  branch 
of  the  Protestant  Church.  Of  her  successor,  James  the  First, 
and  of  others  high  in  office,  both  in  cluirch  and  state,  it  was 
said,  as  may  be  said  of  many  in  the  present  day,  that  they 
were  always  talking  against  Popery,  and  always  acting  for  it. 
There  is  no  proof  on  record,  of  the  personal  religion  of  Eliza- 
beth. Her  spirit  was  very  similar  to  that  of  Mary,— bitter 
and  intolerant;  and  this  may  explain  the  reason  of  her  resist- 
ance to  the  farther  progress  of  the  Reformation,  and,  indeed, 
of  the  whole  system  of  her  ecclesiastical  policy.  In  fact, 
from  the  demise  of  that  excellent  prince,  Edward  the  Sixth, 
to  the  abdication  of  James  the  Second,  Protestantism  retro- 
graded, and  Popery  advangsd;  until  the  fatal  chain,  that  linked 
the  dcstinj'  of  Britain  to  that  of  the  papal  empire,  and  which 
was  never  broken,  was  lifted  out  of  the  mire,  in  whicii  it  had 
been  trodden  under  foot,  and  held  up  in  triumph  bythe  Roman 
Catholics,  before  the  eyes  of  all  Europe;  and  nothing  now 
remained  but  the  last  stroke  of  the  hammer  to  rivet  it  faster 
than  ever.  But  the  bigotry  of  James  hurried  him  into  rash- 
ness and  precipitation,  which  drove  him  from  the  throne,  and 
brought  on  the  revolution  of  IGSS,  when,  by  the  exclusion  of 
Catholic  Princes  from  the  throne  of  these  realms,  and  lioman 
Catholics  from  offices  of  political  power,  both  in  church  and 
state,  by  tlic  Bill  of  Rights,  the  fatal  chain  seemed,  for  theirs/ 
time,  completely,  and  for  ever,  severed.  Protestants,  of  all 
-denominations,  rejoiced  exceedingly;  they  called  it  the  Glo- 
♦  Seethe  Rev.  J.  Riland's  "Estimate  of  the  Religion  of  the  Times." 
33* 


43  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

rious  Revolution,  which  name  it  bears  to  this  day.  The  joy 
and  triumph  of  Protestant  commentators  on  prophecy,  was 
still  more  excessive.  Tiiey  laboured  to  prove,  that  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  fate  of  Britain  from  that  of  tiie  see  of  Rome  was 
now  complete;  that  the  British  horn  was  entirely  eradicated 
from  the  head  of  that  monster,  on  whicli  the  vials  of  the  wrath 
of  Almighty  God  are  to  be  poured.  In  this  state  tilings  re- 
mained, until  the  passing  of  the  late  Catholic  Emancipation 
Bill,  as  it  is  called  by  some,  but  for  what  reason  no  mortal 
can  tell;  when,  by  the  breaking  in  of  the  constitution,  and  the 
admission  of  the  members  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  -^ll  offices, 
whatever,  of  political  power,  in  this  Protestant  government; 
the  alliance  was  again  formed  with  that  apostate  and  idolatrous 
communion,  and  tiie  fatal  link  once  more  appeared,  that  con- 
nected the  fate  of  Britain  with  that  of  the  Papal  empire.  And 
oh!  by  what  perjury, — by  what  glaring  dereliction  of  princi- 
ple,— by  what  mean-spirited  tei-giversation, — and  by  what 
infidel  impiety,  was  this  fatal  bill  introduced!  And  what  have 
been  the  effects  of  this  healing  measure?  Is  Ireland  pacified? 
Is  the  spirit  of  insurrection  and  insubordination  entirely  sub- 
dued? Are  either  the  Protestants  or  Catholics  of  Ireland 
satisfied?  What  means  this  stern  and  persevering  demand  for 
the  repeal  of  the  union,  which  is  but  the  next  step  towards 
the  separation  of  the  two  kingdoms,  or  the  deluging  of  both 
with  blood  from  shore  to  shore?  Alas!  Alas!  Have  not 
the  calamities  of  the  empire  been  ever  since  accumulating 
seven-fold?  On  this  subject,  I  candidly  confess  that  I  felt 
strongly,  and  therefore  expressed  myself  strongly;  under  the 
firm  conviction,  that  on  the  measure  then  hurrying,  with  in- 
decent haste,  through  Parliament,  the  destiny  of  my  beloved 
country  was  suspended.  And  now,  to  use  the  words  of  the 
venerable  Lord  Eldon,  '-The  sun  of  England  is  gone  down, 
to  rise  no  more."  The  destiny  of  the  British  empire  is  for 
ever  sealed,  unless,  indeed,  the  fatal  link  can  be  again  severed, 
of  which  there  is  not  the  remotest  probability. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  in  the  symbolical  prophecy  of  the 
great  image,  the  annihilation  of  the  ten  kingdoms  of  the 
western  empire  is  distinctly  foretold,  in  the  most  awful  and 
impressive  language;  that  in  the  parallel  vision  of  the  four 
beasts,  the  doom  pronounced  in  the  preceding  prophecy  is 
confirmed,  and  the  reason  assigned  for  the  judgment,  i.  e.  the 
blasphemies  of  the  Papacy;  which  being  the  animus  of  the 
beast,  employs  him  as  her  agent  in  the  execution  of  her  san- 
guinary decrees;  that  our  only  hope  of  escape  amidst  the 
general  wreck  was  founded  in  our  Protestantism,  or  in  our 
separation  from  the  church  of  Rome;  that  this  separation  never 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  ^3 

seemed  to  be  complete  until  the  exclusion  of  Popish  kings,  and 
Popish  laymen,  from  political  power  in  the  IJritish  Govern- 
ment, at  the  glorious  Revolution  of  IGSS;  and  that,  by  their 
re-admission  to  the  administration  of  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment, the  alliance  once  more  appears.  The  whole  of  Europe 
looked  with  intense  anxiety  to  the  discussion  of  the  Catholic 
question;  all  minor  Protestant  states,  which  relied  on  England 
as  their  protectress,  were  alarmed  by  finding  that  her  legisla- 
ture had  changed  its  character;  and  all  the  Popish  states  tri- 
umphantly regarded  the  measure  as  a  step  towards  their 
communion. 

But  let  us  take  another  view  of  this  subject.  The  Papacy 
symbolized  by  the  little  horn  in  tlie  prophecy  of  Daniel,  in 
the  apocalyptic  vision,  is  represented  under  the  emblem  of  the 
mother  of  harlots,  seated  on  the  scarlet  beast,  with  ten  horns, 
animating  and  directing  all  his  movements,  bedecked  with  her 
meretricious  ornaments,  holding  out  her  intoxicating  cup  to 
the  nations,  and  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  martyrs 
of  Jesus.  Upon  her  forehead  were  the  names,  INIYSTERY, 
BABYLON  THE  GREAT,  MOTHER  of  HARLOTS,  and 
abominations  of  the  earth.  It  is  asserted  by  some  authors,  that 
the  name  "MYSTERY"  was  inscribed  upon  the  tiara,  worn 
by  the  Popes  in  former  days,  and  not  removed  till  the  Papal 
See  was  cliarged  with  being  the  power  symbolized  in  the  pro- 
phecy. Her  other  title,  "MOTHER  of  HARLOTS,"  im- 
plies that  she  has  been  a  source  of  progeny,  or  churches, 
possessed  of  her  spirit  and  actuated  by  her  princijjles.  For  if 
she  be  the  mother  of  harlots,  she  must  have  daughters;  and 
the  daughters  of  an  ecclesiastical  establishment  must  be  ecclesi- 
astical establishments  likewise,  who  arc  trained  up  under  their 
mother,  and  taught,  by  her  authority  and  example,  to  imitate 
her  spirit,  conduct,  and  dissolute  manners. 

Where,  then,  are  we  to  search  for  this  polluted  progeny, 
but  among  the  ecclesiastical  establishments,  in  alliance  with 
the  secular  kingdoms  of  the  Papal  empire?  Is  the  English 
hierarchy  to  be  ranked  amongst  them?  Nothing  can  be  farther 
from  my  intention,  than  to  wound  the  feelings  of  any  indi- 
vidual of  any  denomination.  I  mean  not  to  insinuate,  that 
those  splendid  edifices,  which  have  been  erected  by  the  piety 
of  our  forefathers,  or  those  which  have  been  raised  in  other 
countries,  in  honour  of  the  cross,  have  been  improperly  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  the  living  God;  or  that  they  who  preach 
the  gospel,  should  not  live  upon  the  gospel;  for  such  things 
are  not  only  sanctioned,  but  enjoined,  in   the  Holy  Scriptures. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  expressed  in 
her  articles,  her  homilies,  and  her  liturgy,  are  entitled  to  our 


4^  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

highest  esteem  and  veneration,  for  they  are  the  doctrines  of 
the  apostles.  Many  of  her  enlightened  and  pious  clergy  are 
the  glory  of  the  nation:  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes,  I  frankly 
and  freely  confess,  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose.  And  if  any 
of  those  excellent  men  should  be  present  in  this  assembly,  or 
should  read  these  lectures,  they  will  sympathize  with  me,  as  I 
deeply  sympathize  with  them;  and,  making  allowance  for  the 
views  which  I  entertain,  as  a  conscientious  Dissenter,  they 
will  not  think  me  very  much  too  severe  in  the  statements  I 
am  going  to  make. 

In  the  first  place;  examine  the  leading  features,  cr  charac- 
teristics, of  the  Mother  of  Harlots,  and  then  try  if  you  can 
find  the  same  constitutional  marks  in  any,  or  in  all,  of  the 
three  great  branches  of  the  Protestant  church, — the  Lutheran 
church,  the  Calvinistic  church,  including  the  kirk  of  Scotland, 
or  the  church  of  England.  If  you  find  them, formed  upon  the 
model  of  the  Papal  hierarchy, — if  they  claim  alliance  with  the 
state  powers,  that,  by  their  joint  energy,  they  may  enforce  the 
reception  of  a  particular  creed,  or  ritual  of  worship,  upon  the 
subjects  of  the  state,  under  civil  penalties, — if,  in  their  dogmas 
and  discipline,  they  resemble  the  church  of  Rome  in  outward 
pomp,  and  worldly  splendour, — if  you  find  in  their  skirts  the 
blood  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of 
Jesus, — if  they  allow  individuals,  though  secular  characters, 
and  even  Generals  of  armies,  to  be  at  the  same  time,  Bishops 
or  Overseers  in  the  church  of  the  living  God, — if  they  permit 
laymen  to  rob  the  God  of  heaven  of  the  portion  due  to  his 
failliful  labourers, — if  they  make  a  profit  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  and  sufi"er  ungodly  men  to  appoint  others,  of  the  same 
stamp,  to  the  cure  of  souls, — if  they  hold  out  a  lure  to  men  of 
unprincipled  minds  to  enter  the  church,  merely  for  the  sake 
of  temporal  provision,  or  worldly  emolument, — if  they  identify 
regeneration  with  water  baptism,  as  the  church  of  Rome 
avowedly  does,  confound  the  outward  and  visible  sign  with 
the  inward  and  spiritual  grace,  and  systematically  reduce 
Christianity  to  mere  form  and  ceremony, — if  they  become 
mere  engines  of  the  state,  and  make  the  patronage  of  the 
church  a  compensation  for  political  and  worldly  puiposes, — 
and,  finally,  if  they  prefer  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  church, 
men  utterly  incaj)able  of  instructiiig  others  in  the  love  and  fear 
of  God,  and  who  resist  and  oppose  those,  who  only  desire,  in 
simplicity  and  godly  sincerity  to  serve  Him,  and  to  save  the 
souls  of  men, — all  such  systems  are  obviously  the  daughters  of 
the  great  harlot.  Whatever  other  redeeming  qualities  they 
may  have,  (for  even  the  church  of  Rome  has  such,)  these 
unlovely  features  betray  the  baseness  of  their  origin. 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  45 

These  things  are  to  be  found,  not  only  in  this  country,  but 
in  all  the  ecclesiastical  establishments  in  alliance  with  the 
secular  kingdoms  of  the  Papal  empire.  The  enlightened 
members  of  the  church  of  England,  see,  acknowledge,  and 
lament,  these  evils,  and  they  are  at  this  moment,  trembling 
for  the  safety  of  their  beloved  hierarchy.  But  let  not  the 
Dissenter  boast  himself  against  the  Churchman,  when  he  hears 
these  statements..  It  will  be  well  for  him  to  allay  the  rising 
emotions  of  exultation,  by  recollecting  that,  whatever  dark 
story  may  be  told  of  a  national  church,  it  may  be  fully  paral- 
leled by  the  history  of  all  the  sects  that  have  hitherto  ap- 
peaj;ed  within  the  precincts  of  the  universal  church.  Antichrist 
can  easily  intrude  his  worldly  mindedness,  his  dead  formality, 
his  hypocrisy,  his  pharisaism,  his  antinomian  licentiousness, 
his  intolerance,  and  his  spiritual  domination,  wherever  fallen 
man  lays  his  guilty  hand  on  the  ark  of  our  common  salvation. 
If  national  churches  are  the  daughters  of  the  great  harlot,  many 
dissenting  churches  are  her  grand-daughters.  Bigotted  dis- 
senters, infidel  revolutionists,  and  atheistical  radicals,  i-ejoice 
in  the  prospect  of  the  downfall  of  national  churches;  supposing 
that  when  they  are  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  con- 
dition of  the  nations  will  be  vastly  meliorated;  but  in  this 
they  err,  not  knowing  the  scriptures,  nor  the  povv.T  of  (iod; 
for  when  they  fall  in  the  final  visitation,  the  nations  will  fall 
also;  the  little  stone  shall  break  them  to  pieces,  and  beat  them 
to  powder,  and  no  place  shall  be  found  for  them;  the  ten  horns, 
and  the  body  of  the  beast,  shall  be  consumed  with  fire,  and  no 
vestige  shall  remain;  and  John  tells  us,  that  when  great 
Babylon  shall  come  up  in  remembrance  before  God,  to  give 
her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fury  of  his  indignation,  the 
nations,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations,  shall  fall  likewise. 

Ail  these  premises  seem  .infallibly  to  lead  to  the  same  awful 
conclusion,  that  the  destiny  of  Britain  is  linked  with  that  of 
the  Papal  empire,  and  that  the  doom  of  Britain  is  invol'ved  in 
that  of  the  Papal  hierarchy;  and  this  conclusion  is  awfully 
confirmed  by  the  conduct  of  Britain  with  regard  to  Popery, 
during  the  late  revolutionary  war  upon  the  continent,  when 
the  vials  of  wrath  began  to  be  poured  out  upon  the  Papal 
states.  I  presume  not  to  pronounce  any  judgment  on  the  war 
itself,  considered  merely  as  a  measure  of  national  policy.  I 
leave  that  question  to  the  decision  of  statesmen  and  politicians; 
but  this  we  know,  that  when  nations  are  to  be  ruined,  causes 
must  be  put  in  action,  by  which  their  ruin  is  to  be  accomplish- 
ed. It  is  generally  supposed, — and  I  once  clung  willi  fond 
"tenacity  to  tiie  same  opinion, — that  our  Protestantism  may  yet 
prove  our  security.     The  God  of  heaven  grant  that  this  sup- 


45  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

position  may  be  well  founded.  But  have  we  not  been  guilty 
of  a  dereliction  of  our  Protestant  principles  and  of  an  identifi- 
cation of  our  most  vital  interests  with  those  of  the  Papacy, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  laie  war  to  the  present  period? 
Did  our  Protestant  principles  weigh  a  feather  in  the  scale, 
when  the  ministers  of  the  crown  passed  a  resolution,  and  the 
great  majority  of  the  nation  rushed  forward,  with  frantic 
ardour,  to  uphold  the  smitten  dynasties  of  the  Man  of  Sin? 
Had  we  forgotten  that  the  men  who  then  sat  on  the  Papal 
throne  were  the  successors  of  those  sanguinary  despots,  who 
had  so  often  shed  the  blood  of  our  forefathers,  and  of  our 
Protestant  brethren;  and  not  only  the  successors,  but  thQ  too 
faithful  executors  of  departed  persecutors;  who  still  continue 
to  oppress  and  enslave  all  who  profess  the  Protestant  faith,  in 
almost  every  state  of  Europe.  Was  not  such  conduct  an  in- 
sult to  the  memory  of  confessors  and  martyrs,  whose  blood 
was  then  crying  to  heaven  for  vengeance  against  them,  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar?  Did  we  not  identif}'  even  our  Protestantism 
with  Popery,  when  we  so  often  called  it  our  holy  religion;  and 
when  enlisting  into  the  ranks  of  Popery,  to  fight  her  battles, 
we  called  it  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  of  his  altars,  and 
of  his  temples?  Was  not  this  to  identify  our  Protestantism 
with  the  abomination  of  the  Mother  of  Harlots;  and  the  cha- 
racter of  the  God  whom  we  professed  to  worship,  with  that  of 
a  persecuting  priesthood?  When  the  dark  despotism  of  Spain 
and  Portugal  was  overturned;  when  the  doors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion were  closed,  and  the  spiritual  domination  of  a  bigotted 
and  idolatrous  priesthood  was  subverted;  by  whose  arms,  and 
at  whose  expense,  was  the  despotism  re-established, — the 
spiritual  domination  of  the  idolatrous  priesthood  restored, — 
and  the  doors  of  the  infernal  Inquisition  re-opened,  that  it 
might  be  again  filled  witii  the  victims  of  superstition  and  in- 
tolerance? When  all  the  Papal  thrones  on  the  Continent,  of 
France,  Austria,  Sardinia,  the  Papal  states,  Naples,  Tuscany, 
Spain,  and  Portugal,  lay  prostrate, — by  whose  arms,  and  at 
whose  expense,  were  they  raised  from  the  dust,  and  the  scat- 
tered fragments  of  the  Papal  empire  repaired  and  re-establish- 
ed? All  depended  on  the  fiat  of  Great  Britain.  Yet  no 
stipulation  was  even  proposed,  not  a  single  effort  was  made, 
in  favour  of  Protestantism,  of  religious  liberty,  or  of  the  sacred 
rights  of  conscience,  by  this  Protestant  nation,  at  that  time 
wielding  the  energies  of  all  Europe. 

And  yet  some  good  and  judicious  men  have  told  us,  that  we 
are  the  Israel  of  God,  the  favoured  nation,  now  standing  in  the 
situation  formerly  occupied  by  the  Jewish  nation,  the  chosen 
people  of  the  Most  High;  glorifying  God  lor  his  judgments 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  47 

upon  the  Papacy.  Yes,  they  tell  us,  that  we,  who  have  spent 
so  much  treasure,  and  shed  so  much  hlood,  on  the  ahars  of 
Papal  despotism,  are  the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand 
palm-bearing  virgins,  who  are  described,  in  the  book  of  Reve- 
lation, as  rejoicing  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  kingdoms 
and  the  total  annihilation  of  Popery,  How  shall  we  account 
for  so  strange  an  infatuation,  so  sad  a  perversion  of  the  sacred 
oracles,  in  men  who,  in  other  respects,  are  worthy  of  all  com- 
mendation? Surely  it  can  be  resolved  only  into  a  mistaken 
patriotism;  a  sentiment,  amiable  in  itself,  glowing  with  an 
ardour  which  fascinates  the  judgment,  and  enfeebles,  while  it 
dazzles,  the  powers  of  the  understanding.  National  prejudice 
is  a  bad  interpreter  of  piophecy,  I  speak  this  from  painful  ex- 
perience; but  now,  reverence  for  the  word  of  God,  a  more 
genuine,  and  I  hope  a  better  directed,  patriotism,  and  an 
anxious  desire  to  awaken  some  of  my  countrymen,  at  least, 
from  that  fearful  apathy  into  which  the  whole  nation  is  sunk, 
constrain  me  to  bear  a  most  firm,  but  respectful  testimony 
against  such  a  mistaken  interpretation  of  sacred  prophecy. 

We  may  glory,  that  to  lii'ilain  is  chiefly  to  be  ascribed  the 
honour  of  restoring  the  scarlet  dynasties,  stained  and  saturated 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  and 
whose  thrones  were  overturned  for  the  crimes  of  ages.  We 
may  glory  in  the  honour  of  raising  the  Man  of  Sin  from  his 
degradation,  and  reviving  the  principles  of  the  expiring  super- 
stitions of  Popery.  We  may  glory,  that  to  our  arms,  and  to 
our  treasure,  it  is  owing  that  the  monsters  of  the  Inquisition — 
the  priests  and  monks  of  an  apostate  church,  were  again  put 
into  full  activity,  with  power  to  persecute  and  torture  the 
servants  of  God  who  protest  against  her  abominations.  But 
amidst  all  our  vain  boasting,  do  we  not  hear  ten  thousand 
voices  crying, — "How  lon^,  Lord,  holy,  just,  and  true!  wilt 
thou  not  avenge  our  blood  upon  them  that  dwell  upon  the 
earth?"  And  do  we  not  hear  the  answer  which  the  j)rophct 
heard  from  the  throne  of  God?  "He  that  leadeth  into  captivity 
shall  be  led  into  captivity.  He  that  killeth  with  the  sword 
shall  be  killed  with  the  sword.  Come  out  froin  the  midst  of 
lier,  therefore,  my  people,  tliat  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins, 
and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues.  For  her  hour  is  come!" 
Review  these  particulars  once  more;  forget  not  that  Great 
Britain  is  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms  represented  by  the  ten  toes 
of  the  metallic  image,  and  by  the  ten  horns  of  the  Roman 
beast,  which  are  to  be  so  completely  destroyed  as  not  to  leave 
a  wreck  behind;  and  that  our  Protestantism,  our  most  vital 
interests,  have  been  all  iilentified  with  Popery,  from  tiie  com- 
mencement of  the  outpouring  of  the  vials  of  wrath   on  the 


43  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

Papal  states,  to  this  day:  and  then,  as  T  have  before  requested 
you,  form  your  own  judgment;  but  judge  wiih  impartiality, 
guard  against  national  prejudice,  which  I  candidly  confess  has 
cost  me  many  painful  conflicts. 

It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  the  destiny  of  all  nations 
depends  upon  the  will  of  the  Sovereign  of  the  world.  His 
will  is  the  awful  die  by  vvhich  the  fate  of  empires  is  determin- 
ed. To  him  it  belongs  to  speak  concerning  a  nation,  or  con- 
cerning a  kingdom,  to  build  up,  to  plant,  and  to  prosper;  to 
him  it  equally  belongs  to  speak  concerning  a  nation,  or  con- 
cerning a  kingdom,  to  pluck  up,  to  throw  down,  to  lay  waste, 
and  to  destroy.  He  sitteth  upon  the  water  floods,  and  reigneth 
King  for  ever.  Under  his  moral  government,  righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation,  and  sin  is  not  only  the  disgrace,  but  the  ruin 
of  any  people.  This  maxim  is  so  obvious  as  to  require  no 
proof,  and  but  little  illustration.  Legislators,  statesmen,  and 
divines  in  all  ages,  have  been  of  this  opinion,  and  history  pro- 
claims aloud,  in  every  page,  that  national  virtue  is  the  source 
of  national  prosperity,  and  that  national  depravity  paves  the 
way  to  national  ruin. 

The  wisdom  of  the  statesman,  and  the  bravery  of  the  war- 
rior, in  any  great  national  struggle,  like  the  galvanic  shock, 
may  produce  a  transient  action  in  the  muscles,  resembling  life; 
but  the  favour  of  heaven  is  the  breath  of  life  itself,  in  which 
nations  live,  and  movfe,  and  have  their  being.  Is  there,  then, 
virtue  sufficient  in  Great  Britain  to  conciliate  the  favour  of 
God,  and  to  turn  aside  the  vials  of  his  wrath? 

This  introduces  our  second  question — What  is  the  religious 
and  the  moral  character  of  the  British  empire?  A  nation  must 
be  viewed  as  one  great  xvliole,  without  regard  to  distance  of 
time  or  change  of  the  individuals  of  vvhich  it  is  composed;  as 
it  is  the  same  river  that  flows  from  one  source,  and  runs  in  the 
same  channel,  although  every  moment  there  is  a  succession  of 
a  new  body  of  waters.  Thus  the  Lord  often  addresses  the 
Jewish  people,  as  if  they  were  still  the  same  persons  who 
existed  in  the  days  of  their  fathers,  although  generation  after 
generation  before  them  had  passed  away.  "Even  from  the 
days  of  your  fathers,  ye  are  gone  away  from  mine  ordinances." 
To  the  same  purpose,  the  whole  time  of  God's  forbearance, 
and  of  tiie  continuance  of  a  dispensation  of  mercy,  with  a 
wicked  nation,  when  filling  up  the  measure  of  its  iniquity,  is 
called  one  day;  because  the  nation  is  viewed  as  one  body 
politic,  without  regard  to  succession.  "All  the  dmj  long  have 
I  stretched  out  my  hands  to  a  disobedient  and  gainsaying  peo- 
ple." Thus  our  Lord  informs  the  Pharisees,  that  by  reject- 
ing the  gospel,  and  persecuting  his  apostles,  they  would  fill  up 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  49 

the  measure  of  their  fathers'  iniquity,  and  bring  upon  them- 
selves all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the 
blood  of  righteous  Abel  to  the  blood  of  Zacharias.  The  ques- 
tion, therefore,  obtrudes  upon  us  again  with  much  clamour — 
Is  there,  then,  virtue  sufficient  in  Great  Britain  to  conciliate 
the  favour  of  God,  and  to  turn  aside  the  vials  of  his  wralli? 

In  forming  an  answer  to  this  enquiry,  let  us  now  consider, 
with  deep  attention,  our  awful  iiuiiflerence  to  llie  waste  of 
human  life,  and  our  torpid  insensibility  to  the  value  of  im- 
mortal souls.  We  hear  heavy  complaints  of  the  appalling 
magnitude  of  the  national  debt,  and  the  enormous  increase  of 
the  system  of  taxation,  now  pressing  on  the  vitals  of  all  orders 
of  the  community,  and  under  which  the  whole  empire  groans. 
We  are  told,  in  loud  murmurs,  that  if  the  population  of  the 
three  kingdoms  amounts  to  twenty-five  millions,  according  to 
the  last  census,  twenty  millions  of  our  fellow  subjects  are  sink- 
ing, under  the  pressure  of  the  times,  into  bankruptcy,  poverty, 
and  ruin.  We  hear  the  comj)laints  of  landlords  and  farmers, 
of  manufacturers  and  labourers,  of  shipowners  and  merchants, 
of  sliopkecpers  and  retailers  of  every  description.  We  hear 
loud  and  bitter  complaints  of  inadequate  wages,  pinching  want, 
and,  in  some  districts,  of  absolute  starvation.  We  hear  com- 
plaints of  burnings,  of  insurrections,  and  symptoms  of  revolu- 
tion and  anarchy.  Complaints,  loud  and  deep,  are  heard 
throughout  the  higher,  the  middling,  and  the  lower  classes, 
from  one  side  of  the  empire  to  the  other.  But  who  complains 
of  the  oceans  of  blood  shed  in  the  late  Papal  struggle?  Who 
complains  of  the  multitudes  of  human  victims  sacrificed  on 
the  altars  of  Papal  despotism?  Who  lays  to  heart  the  millions 
of  souls  which  we  have  sent,  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  in  their 
impenitence  and  guilt,  into  an  eternal  world?  Not  one  in  a 
million.  Where,  then,  i^  our  Christianity?  Where  is  our 
humanity?  Is  such  fearful  recklessness  of  the  waste  of  human 
life, — such  infidel  insensibility  to  the  worth  of  immortal  souls, 
likely  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and  to 
shield  us  from  his  threatened  vengeance?  Is  there  no  ground 
here  for  apprehension  as  to  the  fate  of  the  empire?  Is  there 
no  just  cause  for  national  repentance  and  humiliation? 

Let  us  now  turn  aside  and  contemplate  the  character  of  our 
colonial  system.  I  shall  say  nothing  of  the  slave  trade:  of  the 
cruelty  and  palpable  injustice  of  tearing  away  our  unoffending 
fellow-creatures,  who  liave  done  us  no  harm,  of  loading  them 
with  fetters  of  iron,  and  transporting  them,  and  their  posterity, 
for  ever  into  perpetual  bondage;  I  shall  say  nothing  of  the 
•horrors  of  the  middle  passage,  the  bare  recital  of  which  has  so 
often  made   our  hearts   to  faint,  our  bones  to  shake,  and  the 

VOL.  II.  —  34 


50  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

hairs  of  our  flesh  to  stand  up;  I  shall  say  nothing  of  the  in- 
humanity of  exposing  human  beings  to  sale,  like  cattle,  at  a 
public  market;  of  separating  husbands  from  their  wives,  and 
wives  from  their  husbands,  parents  from  their  children,  and 
children  from  their  parents;  rending  and  torturing  the  fibres 
of  the  heart,  heedless  of  the  piteous  cries  and  vvailings  of  the 
unhappy  sufferers;  nor  shall  I  say  one  word  of  the  cruelties 
that  have  been  inflicted,  and  are  still  being  inflicted,  on  the 
poor  negroes  on  some  of  our  plantations;  because  we  hope 
that  these  things  are  in  a  state  of  advancing  amelioration.  But 
w^e  must  not  forget,  that  Africa  has  a  heavy  account  to  settle 
with  Great  Britain,  at  the  bar  of  eternal  justice.  We  must 
not  forget,  that  the  blood  of  Africa  is  crying  from  her  burning 
sands  to  heaven,  for  vengeance  against  all  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope, especially  the  Papal  nations,  and  also  against  the  western 
and  southern  continents  of  America.  Let  us'place  this  matter 
in  a  proper  light.  Suppose  a  banditti  were  to  break  into  a 
house,  murder  some  of  the  inhabitants,  steal  away  the  rest, 
together  with  the  cash,  the  plate,  and  all  the  household  pro- 
perty: would  they  not  be  guilty  of  felony  and  murder?  Sup- 
pose this  property  to  be  sold,  are  not  those  who  purchase  it, 
knowing  it  to  have  been  thus  acquired,  guilty  of  felony,  and 
murder  likewise,  in  the  eye  of  eternal  justice,  as  accessories 
after  the  fact?  Suppose  this  property  should  pass  through  ten 
generations  who  knew' it  to  have  been  so  acquired;  would  not 
the  original  guilt,  in  some  degree,  go  along  with  it?  Suppose 
a  government,  by  its  laws  and  charters,  were  to  sanction  this 
mode  of  acquiring  and  transferring  property;  would  not  that 
government  be  deeply  involved  in  the  guilt  of  felony  and 
murder?  Nay  more,  suppose  a  whole  nation  to  reap  and  feed 
upon  the  fruits  of  property  thus  acquired,  and  knowing  it  to 
have  been  thus  acquired, — would  not  the  whole  nation  in  some 
degree,  be  implicated  in  the  original  guilt?  Who  then  can 
lay  his  hand  upon  his  heart  and  say,  I  am  innocent?  Alas! 
this  blood-guiltiness  has  struck  its  roots  down  to  the  vitals  of 
the  social  system,  extended  its  cancerous  ramifications,  and 
spread  its  poisonous  virus,  through  the  whole  empire.  We 
have  heard  much,  of  late  years,  of  the  necessity,  in  strict  jus- 
tice, of  making  compensation  to  the  planters,  before  they  are 
stripped  of  their  colonial  proj)crt3^,  by  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves,  even  if  their  present  state  of  civilization  were  such  as 
to  qualify  them  for  the  enjoyment  of  civil  liberty,  with  safety 
to  themselves,  and  advantage  to  the  empire;  and  certainly,  as 
we  are  all  involved,  the  planters  ought  not  to  be  the  only  suf- 
ferers; the  whole  nation  is  called  upon  to  bring  forth  fruits 
meet  for  repentance,   but  compensation  is  especially  due  to 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  51 

injured  Africa;  an  object  which  the  late  Mr.  Pitt  had  much  at 
heart,  and  which  he  often  pressed,  with  great  energy  and 
pathos,  upon  the  attention  of  the  British  Parliament. 

The  first  step  which  ought  to  be  taken,  is  tiie  proclamation 
of  a  general  fast,  enjoining  the  whole  empire,  like  Nineveh,  to 
put  on  sackcloth,  and  humble  herself  before  Almighty  God; 
and  then  to  proceed  to  an  equitable  adjustment,  that  there  may 
be,  at  least,  a  lengthening  out  of  the  tranquillity.  But  we 
form  a  very  contracted  view  of  the  iniquity  of  our  colonial 
system,  if  we  confine  our  attention  to  the  West  Indies;  though 
there,  perhaps,  it  exists  in  its  most  appalling  forms,  unless  in- 
deed we  except  the  Mauritius.  The  colonial  system  of  Great 
Britain  extends  over  the  whole  globe;  consisting  of  number- 
less larger  or  lesser  colonies,  stations,  or  points  of  observation; 
the  connection  between  each  of  which  is  maintained  by  our 
naval  superiority,  and  from  each  of  which  Great  Britain  can 
extend  her  arm,  to  check  any  inroads  upon  her  commerce. 

These  colonies,  stations,  &c.  were  originally  founded  in  con- 
quest, i.  e.  murder,  ])lunder,  and  slavery;  and  these  are  the 
bases  on  which  the  pillars  of  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the 
empire  is  founded.  When  God,  therefore,  maketh  inquisition 
for  blood,  is  there  no  reason  to  ajiprehend  that  these  colonial 
pillars,  resting  on  such  foundations,  will  totter  to  their  ruin, 
and  that  all  the  glory  of  the  empire  will  fall  with  them?  Is 
not  this  an  additional  cause  for  national  contrition  and  humilia- 
tion? 

I  must  now  fix  your  attention  on  the  British  possessions  in 
the  East  Indies,  consisting  of  an  immense  territory,  and  a 
population  of  one  hundred  millions  of  souls — more  than  one- 
tenth  of  the  population  of  the  whole  world;  all  entombed  in 
the  lurid  gloom  of  superstition  and  idolatry, — of  superstition, 
the  most  obscene  and  abominable, — of  idolatry,  the  most  san- 
guinary and  brutal,  that  perhaps  ever  existed,  in  any  nation, 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  Here  a  scene  opens,  on 
our  view,  of  the  most  melancholy  character,  and  cTilculatcd  to 
excite  the  most  fearful  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  \he 
empire,  independently  of  every  other  consideration.  The 
missionaries  of  Serampore,  the  Moravian  missionaries,  Church 
of  England  missionaries,  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  travel- 
lers, otlicers  of  the  army,  intelligent  men  of  all  professions, 
and  of  all  nations,  who  have  resided  in  India,  have  given  it  as 
their  unanimous  opinion,  that  Great  Britain  has  more  reason 
to  fear  ruin  to  her  empire  from  this  source  of  her  wealth,  than 
from  any  other  cause  whatsoever.  Many  a  dark  tale  is  told, 
-and  too  well  authenticated,  every  word  of  which  has  often 
harrowed   up  the  soul,  in  the  history  of  our  first  conquests. 


52  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

and  the  establishment  of  our  dominion  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  But  let  us  draw  a  veil  over  these  enormities,  as  well 
as  over  the  disgusting  obscenities  of  Indian  idolatry,  not  fit 
even  to  be  mentioned  in  such  an  assembly  as  this;  and  consider 
only  the  multitude  of  human  victims,  which  are  annually 
sacrificed  upon  its  blood-stained  altars;  the  countenance  and 
protection  which  the  British  government  affords  to  that  horrid 
superstition;  and  the  revenue  which  the  British  government 
actually  receives,  in  return  for  that  countenance  and  protec- 
tion. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  are  many  idolatrous  temples, 
within  the  territories  of  the  East  India  Company,  to  which 
annual  pilgrimages  are  made  by  the  infatuated  idolaters,  under 
the  absurd  notion  of  meriting  eternal  happiness  thereby;  and 
that  during  each  of  which,  there  is  an  immense  sacrifice  of 
human  life.  But  there  are  four,  in  particular,  from  which  the 
British  government  derives  a  considerable  revenue,  by  means 
of  a  tax  imposed  upon  the  pilgrims,  for  permission  to  enter 
within  the  precincts  of  their  temples,  and  to  approach  the 
shrines  of  their  savage  deities.  These  are  Guya,  Allalahabad, 
Tripety,  and  Juggernaut,  which  last  signifies  the  lord  of  the 
world;  and  is  justly  styled,  by  Dr.  Buchannan,  "The  Great 
Moloch  of  the  East."  'It  is  difficult,"  says  Mr.  Ward,  "to 
bring  the  mind  to  contemplate  scenes  of  horror,  which  surpass 
all  that  has  ever  been  perpetrated,  in  the  name  of  religion,  by 
all  the  savage  nations  put  together."  Besides  the  self-tortures 
inflicted  by  the  devotees  of  this  absurd  superstition,  for,  as 
they  suppose,  the  expiation  of  their  sins, — besides  the  human 
victims  secretly  immolated  on  their  guilty  altars, — and  besides 
the  numbers  who  throw  themselves  annually  under  the  pon- 
derous wheels  of  the  idol's  chariot,  and  are  crushed  to  death, 
as  he  is  slowly  dragged  over  them,  amidst  the  triumphant 
shouts  of  countless  myriads'; — passing  by  all  these  things,  we 
may  form  some  conception  of  the  prodigious  waste  of  life  on 
these  occasions,  from  the  following  statements  of  Dr.  Carey: — 
"Idolatry,"  says  that  venerable  missionary,  "destroys  far  more 
than  the  sword,  yet  in  a  way  that  is  scarcely  perceived.  The 
numbers  who  die  in  their  long  pilgrimages,  either  through 
want  or  fatigue,  or  from  various  diseases,  caught  by  lying  out 
in  the  open  air,  and  want  of  accommodation,  is  incredible.  At 
Juggernaut,  to  which  twelve  or  thirteen  jjilgrimages  are  made 
every  year,  it  is  calculated  that  the  number  who  go  thither  is, 
on  some  occasions,  six  hundred  thousand  persons,  and  scarcely 
ever  less  than  one  hundred  thousand.  I  suppose,  at  the  lowest 
calculation,  that,  in  the  year,  one  million  two  hundred  thou- 
sand persons  attend.     Now,  if  only  one  in  ten  died,  the  mor- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  53 

tality  caused  by  this  one  idol  alone,  would  be  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  in  a  year;  but  some  are  of  opinion  that  not 
more  than  one  in  ten  survive,  and  return  home  again  to  their 
families." 

The  following  is  a  condensed  account  of  the  statements  of 
men  of  the  most  inflexible  veracity,  and  who  had  the  best 
possible  opportunities  of  obtaining  the  most  extensive  infor- 
mation, and  forming  the  most  accurate  judgment,  and,  indeed, 
who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  facts  which  they  relate.  Such 
men,  for  example,  as  Ward,  Carey,  Dubois,  Sonnerat,  Cordimer, 
Buchannan,  Harrington,  Ilamillon,  Sterling,  Colonel  Phipps, 
and  others,  whose  testimony  is  unquestionable.  When  the 
wretched  pilgrims,  after  having  travelled  many  hundreds,  and 
some  of  them  thousands,  of  miles,  even  from  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  empire,  on  foot,  beneath  a  burning  sun,  come 
within  fifty  miles  of  Juggernaut,  the  mortality  multiplies  at 
every  step;  and  when  they  reach  within  three  miles  of  the 
temple,  such  is  the  immense  waste  of  life,  that  the  roads,  and 
the  lields  on  both  sides  of  the  roads,  are  covered  with  the 
dying  and  the  dead,  absolutely  worn  out  by  fatigue,  and  want, 
and  various  diseases;  and  upon  their  return  from  the  den  of 
superstition,  the  mortality  seems  still  to  increase  seven-fold, 
the  dying  wretches  firmly  believing  that  they  have  merited  a 
place  in  Paradise  by  their  pilgrimages.  Not  far  from  the  gates 
of  the  temple,  there  lies  a  plot  of  ground,  called  by  the  Eng- 
lish "Golgotha,"  which  exhibits  a  scene  too  shocking  and 
disgusting  for  humanity  to  behold  and  contemplate.  There, 
multitudes  of  the  dying,  and  the  dead,  and  t!ie  bones  of  former 
victims,  yet  unburied,  are  mingled  together,  in  horrible  con- 
fusion; while  vultures,  dogs,  and  jackaJls,  are  looking  on  with, 
what  Dr.  Buchannan  calls,  a  dreadful  tameness,  or  feeding  on 
the  dead,  and  even  the  dymg,  before  life  is  entirely  extinct. 

The  product  of  the  tax  thus  collected,  and  even  often  wrung 
from  the  very  last  means  of  subsistence,  is  applied,  in  different 
portions,  to  the  following  purposes: — the  repairing  of  the 
temple,  and  its  unhallowed  precincts;  the  clothing  and  adorn- 
ing of  the  idols;  the  support  of  the  priests,  and  the  servants  of 
the  temple,  among  whom  are  a  prodigious  number  of  female 
prostitutes;  the  ornamenting  of  the  car  of  Juggernaut,  with 
Knglish  cloth,  of  divers  colours,  at  the  annual  expense  of  £200, 
furnished  by  the  British  government;  while  a  considerable 
proportion  is  assigned  to  wliat  are  called  the  j^ilgrim  hunters, 
— a  laige  body  of  emissaries,  more  numerous  than  all  the 
Christian  missionaries  in  the  world,  who  are  employed  by  the 
.priests,  and  dispersed  over  the  whole  empire,  to  persuade  the 
deluded  natives,  by  various  arguments,  especially  by  the  as- 
34* 


54  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

surance  of  eternal  bliss,  to  undertake  the  pilgrimage,  and  who 
receive  the  remuneration  of  their  labours  from  the  British 
government,  at  so  much  per  head,  which  is,  consequently, 
more  or  less,  according  to  the  number  of  pilgrims  whom  they 
send  before  them,  or  wiio  follow  in  their  train;  and  the  surplus 
of  the  tax  thus  collected,  goes  directly  into  the  hands  of  the 
British  government.  "This,  surely,  is  a  question  in  which," 
says  Dr.  Buchannan,  "the  honour  of  our  nation,  and,  we  may 
add,  the  destiny  of  our  empire,  is  involved."  At  Juggernaut, 
the  pilgrim  hunters  receive  a  premium  for  every  pilgrim 
brought  into  the  town;  and  five  thousand  a  year  is  paid  to  the 
native  officers  of  the  temple,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  pil- 
grim-tax. Idolatry  is  thus  regulated,  supported,  and  aggran- 
dized by  the  British  government.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Peggs,  late 
of  Orissa,  a  missionary,  now  in  this  country,  says,  "A  friend 
in  Orissa  writes  to  me  as  follows: — From  a  conversation  with 
a  long  resident  of  Pooree,  I  ascertained  that,  witliin  his  know- 
ledge, the  population  has  more  than  doubled;  and  he  said  the 
reason  was,  that  under  our  administration,  Juggernaut  had 
become  popular,  and  so  more  people  had  taken  up  their  resi- 
dence there.  He  added, — "as  our  credit  sounded  through 
the  four  quarters,  for  protecting  Juggernaut,  it  would  be  a  pity 
now  to  destroy  all  his  glory,  by  leaving  him  to  himself." 
This  fact  speaks  volumes,  and  needs  no  comment. 

This  infamous  tax,  be'it  remembered,  is  collected,  with  great 
formality  and  rigour,  by  British  officers,  clothed  in  the  insignia 
of  their  office,  and  under  a  guard  of  British  soldiers.  Thus 
the  whole  brutal  and  infernal  system  of  Indian  idolatry  is 
under  the  visible  countenance  and  protection  of  the  British 
government,  which  very  naturally  confirms  the  natives  in  their 
dreadful  superstitions.  To  the  admonitions  of  our  Missiona- 
ries they  reply.  What  you  say  is  false;  Juggernaut  must  be 
the  true  God,  because  the  British  believe  in  him;  his  worship 
must  be  the  true  worship,  because  it  is  regulated,  supported, 
and  promoted,  by  the  British  government;  or  why  do  they 
impose  the  tax,  collect  the  revenue,  repair  the  temple,  support 
the  priests  and  servants  of  the  temple,  adorn  the  car  of  Jug- 
gernaut, remunerate  the  labours  of  the  pilgrim  hunters,  who 
send  myriads  to  the  festivals,  who  otherwise  would  never 
tliink  of  leaving  their  homes,  and  appropriate  the  surplus  of 
the  impost  to  the  purposes  of  government?  Still  they  com- 
plain of  the  severity  of  the  tax,  and  the  rigour  of  the  tax 
gatherers.  You  would  have  felt  your  heart  moved,  to  hear, 
says  an  excellent  missionary,  resident  in  India,  giving  an  ac- 
count of  the  Rutt  festival  in  1825, — you  would  have  felt  your 
heart  moved,  to  hear,  as  I  did,  the  natives  say,  Your  preach- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  55 

ing  is  fulse;  for,  if  your  Saviour,  and  your  religion,  are  thus 
merciful,  as  you  tell  us,  why,  then,  do  you  take  away  the 
money  of  the  poor,  and  suffer  them  to  perish  with  starvation? 
The  surplus  of  this  tax,  collected  from  only  the  four  temples, 
which  1  have  mentioned,  which  went  into  the  possession  of 
the  British  government,  after  discharging  all  other  expenses, 
in  the  last  fifteen  years,  amounted  to  upwards  of  one  million 
sterling.  All  these  facts,  and  many  others,  not  less  enormous, 
were  stated,  and  proved  by  an  accumulation  of  testimony, 
which  could  not  be  questioned,  before  a  general  meeting  of 
East  India  proprietors,  in  December  last,  in  a  speech  by  John 
Poynder,  Esq.,  for  the  purpose  of  recommending  and  support- 
ing, one  would  think,  a  very  harmless  motion;  merely  that 
the  government  should  abolish  the  tax,  renounce  all  participa- 
tion in  this  detestable  superstition,  and  leave  idolatry  to  stand 
or  fall  by  its  own  merits,  since  British  connection  only  in- 
creases its  injurious  celebrity;  all  that  the  motion  required, 
was  to  regard  the  language  of  scripture,  Touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not, — let  them  alone:  and,  strange  to  say,  in  this  coun- 
try— in  the  Metropolis  of  the  British  empire — in  Leadenhall- 
street,  this  motion  was  negatived,  by  a  considerable  majority. 
Is  there  no  ground  here  for  fearful  apprehension!  Is  not 
idolatry  branded  in  scripture  with  the  peculiar  curse  of  a  holy 
and  a  righteous  God?  Is  it  not  reprobated,  anathematized,  and 
condemned,  in  every  part  of  his  holy  word?  Is  it  not  con- 
stantly mentioned,  not  only  as  a  cause,  but  as  a  principal  cause, 
of  the  desolations  of  nations  and  empires?  Whence  the 
plagues  of  Egypt,  the  excision  of  the  nations  of  Canaan,  the 
judgments  inflicted  on  the  ancient  Israelites,  the  dens  of  Baby- 
lon, the  pools  of  Nineveh,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  idolatrous 
nations  of  antiquity?  And  was  there  ever  in  any  nation,  or 
in  any  empire,  a  system  pf  idolatry  more  detestable,  more 
criminal,  more  offensive  to  the  God  of  nations,  than  that  which 
is  under  the  visible  countenance  and  protection  of  the  British 
government  in  this  immense  part  of  her  empire?  Oh!  my 
country,  may  God  have  mercy  upon  thee  in  the  day  of  his 
fierce  anger!  Is  not  this  an  additional  cause  for  national 
humiliation  and  the  putting  on  of  sackcloth? 

We  cannot  conclude  without  reminding  those  who  sigh  and 
cry  for  the  abominations  that  are  done  in  the  land,  that  all  the 
great  and  stiipendous  concerns  of  nations,  as  well  as  the  affairs 
of  individuals,  are  under  the  mediatorial  government  of  their 
beloved  Redeemer,  as  the  administrator  of  Providence.  The 
government  is  upon  his  shoulders:  the  sceptre  of  supreme  and 
wiivcrsal  dominion  is  in  his  hand.  All  events  are  arranged, 
adjusted,  controlled,  and  overruled  by  his  unerring  wisdom; 


56  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

SO  as  to  usher  in  that  blessed  clay  when  his  glory  shall  cover 
the  whole  earth,  and  the  prayers  of  David,  his  illustrious 
ancestor,  shall  be  answered.  All  this  was  beautifully  repre- 
sented in  the  vision,  with  which  the  prophet  Ezekiel  was 
favoured,  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  by  the  river  Kebar.  In 
this  vision,  the  prophet  beheld  a  vast  and  complicated  machine, 
— a  symbol  of  the  universe, — consisting  of  larger  and  smaller 
wheels,  acting  with  various  degrees  of  meclianical  powers: 
wheels  revolving  in  the  middle  of  wheels;  driven  straight 
forward,  by  the  impulse  of  a  living  spirit  residing  in  the  midst 
of  them;  full  of  eyes,  within  and  round  about;  and  al'  moving 
in  the  most  perfect  order,  under  the  direction  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  whose  head  is  encompassed  with  the  rainbow,  and  whose 
glory  beams  through  every  part,  and  encircles  the  whole  of 
the  vast  machinery.  Here  we  have  a  sublime  description  of 
the  mystery  of  Pi-ovidence — wheels  revolving  in  the  middle 
of  wiieels,  deep,  complicated,  and  inscrutable;  of  the  universal 
inspection  of  Providence — full  of  eyes  within,  and  round  about; 
of  the  resistless  operations  of  Providence — moving  straight 
forward,  without  turning  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  to 
one  grand  and  final  consummation;  the  majesty  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  as  the  administrator  of  Providence,  sitting  on  his  azure 
throne,  and  conducting  every  revolution  of  the  larger  and  the 
smaller  wheels,  with  the  most  consummate  harmony;  the  sub- 
serviency of  all  the  revolutions  of  Providence  to  the  salvation 
of  the  church;  his  head  is  encom])assed  with  the  rainbow;  and, 
lastly,  the  ultimate  end  of  all  Providential  operations,  which 
are  illumined  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  beaming  through 
every  part  and  encircling  the  whole,  for  the  entire  exhibition 
is  called  the  likeness  of  t!he  glory  of  Jehovah,  It  is  impossible 
to  conceive  a  more  beautiful  or  more  sublime  representation  of 
the  harmony  of  Divine  Providence,  or  one  better  adapted  to 
administer  consolation  to  the  weeping  captives  in  Babylon,  for 
whom  it  was  primarily  intended,  or  to  British  Christians  at 
this  momentous  crisis.  It  is  but  a  small  part  of  this  machine 
that  we  can  see  at  present;  the  hand  that  moves  it  is  invisible; 
we  perceive  not  the  dependance  of  one  part  upon  another,  and 
can  form  a  very  inadequate  conception  of  the  grand  result;  we 
are  like  an  insect  placed  upon  one  of  the  lesser  cogs  of  the 
smaller  wheels;  we  hear  the  noise  of  a  great  system  of  action 
going  on,  wc  catch  a  transient  glim])sc  of  the  glory  around  us, 
and  the  next  movement  we  are  crushed  for  ever.  Observe, 
that  this  machine  is  already  constructed;  the  Son  of  Man  is 
upon  his  throne,  with  the  reins  of  government  in  his  hands; 
the  wheels  are  all  in  action;  the  business  of  the  nation,  of  the 
church,  and  the  world  is  going  forward;  and  glorious  will  be 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  57 

the  final  issue,  beyond  what  the  eye  hath  ever  seen,  the  ear 
hath  ever  heard,  or  hath  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  or 
angels  to  conceive. 


LECTURE  III. 

Daniel  ii.  44. 

''And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  tip  a 
kingdom,"  ^'C. 

In  the  last  lecture,  when  enquiring  into  the  religious  and 
the  moral  character  of  Great  Britain,  our  attention  was  fixed 
on  the  British  possessions  in  the  East  Indies,  and  on  the  me- 
lancholy scenes  even  now  exhibiting  in  that  immense  portion 
of  the  British  Empire. 

But,  witiiout  further  introduction,  let  us  return  to  our  native 
shores,  and  seriously  consider  the  awful  prevalence  of  Infidelity 
in  our  own  country.  Infidelity  is  the  highest  insult  that  man 
can  offer  to  his  Creator:  for  he  that  believeth  not  God,  hath 
made  him  a  liar.  This  sin  existed  from  the  beginning,  and 
was  a  principal  ingredient  in  the  original  transgression:  our 
first  parents  did  not  believe  the  divine  threatening, — "In  the 
day  that  ye  eat  thereof,  ye  shall  surely  die."  They  did  not 
believe  that  the  threatened  penalty  would  be  carried  into  exe- 
cution, or  that  their  disobedience  would  be  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  a  state  of  death  and  misery,  entailed  upon  themselves 
and  all  their  posterity.  Tljus,  infidelity  brought  on  the  ruin 
of  the  whole  world,  and  afterwards  the  tremendous  catastrophe 
of  the  deluge,  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the 
apostacy  of  the  heathen  nations,  and  all  the  calamities  inflicted 
upon  the  house  of  Israel,  from  the  time  of  their  departure  out 
of  Egypt,  through  all  the  succeeding  periods  of  their  eventful 
history,  to  the  present  day.  To  this  cause  is  to  be  traced, 
principally,  the  schism  and  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes;  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  captivity 
of  Judah  in  Babylon;  the  dissolution  of  their  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical policy,  and  all  the  slaughters,  massacres,  famines,  and 
unparalleled  horrors  of  their  last  siege.  Hence  their  dispersion 
in  infamy  and  in  bondage,  as  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  Chris- 
ttanity  to  all  nations  among  whom  they  are  scattered,  and  to 
warn   them  lest  they  fall  after  the  same  example  of  unbelief. 


58  '         THE  DESTINIES  OF 

Hence  also,  their  judicial  blindness  and  hardness  of  heart,  and 
all  the  sufferings  of  their  long  and  painful  captivity. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  the  monster 
Infidelity,  or  Atheism,  reared  his  impious  head  in  the  very 
bosom  of  the  Christian  church,  denying  the  Father,  and  the 
Son,  and  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  He  hath 
sent,  and  is  branded,  by  the  apostle  John,  with  the  name  of 
Antichrist.  It  was  foretold,  in  Daniel's  last  vision,  that  n-hen 
the  reign  of  Papal  superstition  was  hastening  to  its  fall,  an 
Atheistical  power  should  arise  among  the  Papal  kingdoms, 
spread  ruin  and  desolation  all  around,  which  should  endure 
only  for  a  short  time;  and  that  learned  commentator,  Mr. 
Faber,*  has  clearly  proved  that  this  can  be  no  other  than 
Atheistical  France.  Modern  Infidelity,  indeed,  sprung  up  at 
the  dawn  of  the  Reformation,  and  was  the  filthy  spawn  of  the 
Mother  of  Harlots,  and  destined  to  be  the  terrible  scourge  of 
its  dissolute  parent.  But  as  the  commencement  of  prophetical 
eras  is  dated  from  the  acts,  not  of  individuals,  but  of  states  and 
civil  governments,  the  predicted  reign  of  Infidelity  commenced, 
when  a  whole  nation,  for  the  first  time  since  nations  existed 
in  the  world,  declared  itself  atheistical;  and,  having  denounced 
Jesus  Christ  as  an  impostor,  and  Christianity  as  a  fable,  passed 
a  decree  that  the  national  faith  of  France  consisted  only  of  two 
articles;  that  God  is  nature,  and  that  there  is  no  other  God, 
except,  indeed,  the  imlaginary  gods  of  the  Atheistical  govern- 
ment; and  that  death  is  an  eternal  sleep.  The  reign  of  Anti- 
christ, in  his  full  development,  and  his  most  detestable  and 
portentous  form,  began  his  dreadful  but  comparatively  short- 
lived reign,  as  the  last  scourge  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty, 

From  that  period,  the  poison  of  Infidelity  was  circulated 
through  the  Pai)al  kingdoms,  with  the  force  and  rapidity  of 
lightning.  And  from  that  time,  also.  Infidelity  and  Popery 
have  been  joined  haud-in-hand,  and  confederate  against  all  the 
existing  establishments  of  the  British  empire.  The  continental 
nations,  to  this  day,  exhibit  one  black  and  putrid  mass  of  the 
abominations  of  Popery,  mingling  with  the  blasphemies  of 
Atheism.  Nor  has  our  beloved  country  escaped  the  pestilen- 
tial contagion.  Infidelity  infects  the  bar,  the  army,  the  navy, 
the  senate,  the  cabinet,  the  church,  universities,  colleges,  the 
departments  of  science,  literature,  philosophy,  medicine,  legis- 
lation, and  even  theology.  The  press  gi'oans  under  it.  "The 
lurking  poison  of  unbelief,"  says  Palcy,  in  his  Moral  Philoso- 
phy, "is  served  up  in  every  shape,  tliut  is  likely  to  allure, sur- 
prise, or  beguile,  the  imagination;  in  a  fable,  a  tale,  a  novel,  a 
poem;  in  interspersed  and  broken  hints;  remote  and  oblique 
*  See  Mr.  Faber's  "Commentary  upon  Daniel's  Last  Vision." 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  59 

surmises;  in  books  of  travels,  of  philosophy,  of  natural  history : 
in  a  word,  in  any  form  rather  than  that  of  a  professed  and 
regular  disquisition."  Since  Paley  wrote  his  Moral  Philoso- 
phy, the  fatal  poison,  which  is  working,  conjointly  with  other 
causes,  the  ruin  of  the  empire,  has  increased  in  strength,  in 
virulence,  and  in  extent  of  influence  beyond  all  comparison. 
It  has  descended  from  the  highest,  through  the  middling,  down 
to  the  very  lowest  orders  of  the  community.  Isaiah's  descrip- 
tion of  the  body  politic  of  the  Jewisli  nation,  is  here  fearfully 
exemplified: — "The  whole  head  is  sick,  the  whole  heart  is 
faint;  from  the  soles  of  the  feet,  to  the  crown  of  the  head, 
there  is  no  soundness;  nothing  but  wounds,  and  bruises,  and 
putrifying  sores."  Are  not  these  indications  of  approaching 
dissolution?  Infidelity  appears  in  some,  open  and  avowed, 
with  unblushing  eflrontery,  defying  tlie  God  of  heaven,  and 
threatening  all  existingestablishments;  in  others,  it  isdisguised 
and  concealed,  but  not  so  as  not  to  be  sufficiently  visible  in  its 
effects;  in  some,  it  is  speculative  and  practical  Infidelity,  un- 
masked; in  others,  it  is  the  unbelief  of  the  heart,  easily  dis- 
cernible in  its  pernicious  fruits  in  the  life  and  manners;  it  is 
found  in  the  Churchman  and  the  Dissenter;  in  persons  of 
moral  decency,  and  open  profligacy.  It  is  embodied  in  three 
forms,  or  three  negative  ])Ositions,  all  of  which  shake  the  foun- 
dations of  revelation,  and  close  up  the  heart  against  the  admis- 
sion of  Christianity.  These  are,  first,  a  denial  of  the  attribute 
of  divine  justice,  consequently  of  the  atonement  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  the  scripture  doctrine  of  future  punishments;  secondly, 
in  a  denial  of  the  superior  excellence,  not  only  of  Protestantism 
over  Popery,  but  even  of  Christianity  over  Mahomcdanism, 
Hindooism,  and  any  other  religion,  that  tends  to  secure  the 
ends  of  civil  government:  hence,  it  is  often  said,  that  all  re- 
ligions are  equally  good;  andfwally,  in  a  denial  of  the  respon- 
sibility of  man,  for  what  he  believes,  even  to  the  God  who 
made  him;  as  if  (he  creature  had  a.  right  to  think  against  his 
Creator.  If  these  negative  positions  be  admitted,  what  becomes 
of  the  authority,  the  doctrines,  the  promises,  the  admonitions, 
the  denunciations,  and  all  the  sanctions  of  the  word  of  God? 
ISIoses  and  the  Prophets,  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  were  all  im- 
postors, and  Christianity  itself  a  cunningly  or  clumsy  devised 
fable.  And  yet  many  cherish  and  avow  these  Infidel  senti- 
ments, or  sentiments  like  these,  who  speak  favourably  of 
Christianity,  who  attend  places  of  Christian  w^orship,  both 
within  and  without  the  pale  of  the  cstai)lished  church,  and  who 
would  feel  themselves  insulted  and  scandalized  if  charged  with 
Infidelity. 

The  charge,  however,  is  too  just.    Infidelity  is  marked  upon 


QQ  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

their  brow,  intermingled  with  their  intellectual  and  moral 
system,  and  oozes  out  in  their  language  and  conversation,  in 
their  habits  and  general  conduct.  And  when  we  consider  St. 
Paul's  definition  of  the  faith,  to  which  the  promise  of  eternal 
life  is  annexed,  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews, — that  faith  is  the  demonstration  of  things  not  seen, 
and  a  substantial  impression  upon  the  heart  of  the  reality  of 
the  things  hoped  for;  that  it  renders  distant  and  invisible 
things,  as  influential  upon  the  heart  and  conduct  as  though 
they  were  present  and  visible;  and  when  we  contemplate  the 
wonderful  effects  of  this  heavenly  principle,  as  exemplified  in 
the  ancient  church,  and  described  by  the  Apostle  in  the  sub- 
sequent part  of  the  chapter;  and  when  we  farther  compare 
these  effects  with  the  present  state  of  the  church  and  the 
world,  we  may  well  ask,  if  the  Son  of  Man  should  even  now 
come,  would  he  find  faith  on  the  earth. 

Infidelity  is  absolutely  inexcusable;  all  its  strongest  argu- 
ments, and  impertinent  cavils,  have  been  triumphantly  refuted 
on  the  arena  of  controversy;  all  its  malignant  and  insidious 
sophistries  have  been  detected,  and  exposed  past  recovery,  a 
thousand  times;  and  all  its  advocates,  of  every  class,  have  been 
baffled,  confounded,  and  overwhelmed.  Let  the  candid  en- 
quirer read  the  writings  of  such  men  as  Paley,  Leslie,  Berke- 
ley, Fuller,  Chalmers,  Forbes,  and  others,  with  that  attention 
which  the  immense  importance  of  the  subject  demands,  and  I 
will  safely  leave  him  to  form  his  own  judgment.  No  man 
ever  yet  sat  down  seriously  to  investigate  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  with  any  degree  of  attention,  and  only  a  mode- 
rate share  of  candour,  who  did  not  rise  from  the  investigation 
with  a  full  conviction  of  its  divine  original;  and  no  man  ever 
rejected  the  gospel,  who  had  not  a  wicked  reason  for  it, 
worthy,  in  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  of  everlasting  con- 
demnation; which  fully  justifies  the  awful  sanction  by  which 
its  claims  are  guarded  and  enforced:  "He  that  believeth  not, 
shall  be  damned."  Unbelief,  or  a  rejection  of  the  Son  of  God, 
is  less  excusable  in  professed  Christians  now,  than  it  was  in 
the  Jews,  who  persecuted  and  nailed  him  to  the  cross.  For 
then  he  appeared  as  a  man  of  sorrows;  he  veiled  his  glory  in 
a  form  so  lowly,  as  to  disappoint  all  the  fond  expectations, 
which  they  had  long  cherished,  of  the  temporal  grandeur  of 
the  Messiah.  And  with  respect  to  the  multitude  and  even  the 
heads  of  the  nation,  what  they  did  against  Christ  was  through 
ignorance;  for  had  they  known,  they  would  not  have  crucified 
the  Lord  of  Glory;  their  ignorance,  indeed,  was  wilful,  and 
therefore  wrath  came  upon  them  to  the  uttermost,  [or  to  the 
end,  1  Thess.  ii.  IG.]     But  unbelievers  in  our  day,  that  is,  all 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  61 

who  do  not  receive  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  of  God  made  unto  them 
wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption,  reject 
him  in  his  glory  and  majesty,  though  exalted  to  be  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour;  and  many  who  refuse  to  make  a  profession  of 
the  Christian  faith,  do  it  knowingly,  and  against  a  rational 
conviction  that  he  is  both  Lord  and  Christ.  They  are  orthodox 
in  the  head,  and  infidel  at  heart.  Nor  has  the  avowed  Infidel, 
who  scorns  tlie  very  profession  of  the  Christian  name,  the 
shadow  of  an  apology  for  liis  unbelief  or  his  conduct.  For, 
not  to  mention  the  internal  evidences  of  Christianity,  bearing 
the  seal  and  impress  of  divine  authority  legibly  impressed  on 
every  page,  he  has  in  his  possession,  not  only  the  most  unex- 
ceptionable testimony  to  the  truth  of  what  is  related  in  the 
gospel  history,  but  proofs,  many  and  incontrovertible,  which 
could  not  be  known  to  any  who  believed  in  the  Son  of  God, 
while  he  was  in  this  world;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  literal  ac- 
complishment of  many  illustrious  prophecies;  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  old  Roman 
empire,  by  the  feeblest  instruments,  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
most  formidable  obstacles,  insuperable  to  human  wisdom  or 
power,  and  with  a  rapidity  never  before  or  since  exemplified, 
in  any  conquest,  attended  with  the  confused  noise  of  the  war- 
rior, and  with  garments  rolled  in  blood;  in  the  destruction  of 
the  temple,  and  the  city  of  Jerusalem;  in  the  dreadful  and  un- 
paralleled calamities  which  befel  the  Jewish  nation,  during 
their  last  siege;  in  their  dispersion  through  the  world,  and 
their  miraculous  preservation  as  a  distinct  people,  from  all  the 
nations  among  whom  they  are  scattered;  in  the  downfall  of 
the  old  Roman  empire,  and  its  partition  into  ten  kingdoms; 
and  in  the  rise,  the  progress,  and  the  begun  overthrow  of  the 
INIahomedan  imposture,  and  the  Papal  domination:  all  which 
events  were  distinctly  fouetold,  and  exactly  accomplished. 
Infidelity  is  not  only  inexcusable,  but  a  sin  of  peculiar  aggra- 
vation. 

Tlie  great  object  of  the  inspired  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  was  to  illustrate  the  malignant  nature,  and  ruinous 
tendency,  of  unbelief,  either  in  individuals  or  nations;  and 
thus  to  warn  his  countrymen  of  the  calamities  with  which 
they  were  going  to  be  visited,  for  their  rejection  of  the  Son  of 
God.  This  he  does  by  various  arguments,  drawn  from  the 
superiority  of  the  Christian,  to  the  JNIosaic,  economy;  from 
the  divine  majesty  of  the  founder  of  Christianity,  as  the  bright- 
ness of  uncreated  glory,  the  Creator,  and  Preserver  of  the 
universe,  the  Lord  of  angels,  and  the  olijcct  of  their  worship; 
from  his  unparalleled  condescension  and  love,  in  assuming  the 
nature  of  man,  that  in  that  nature  he  might  make  reconciliation 

VOL.  II. — 35 


52  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

for  man's  iniquity;  from  the  dignity  of  his  mediatorial  cha- 
racter, as  the  great  Prophet  of  the  Church,  by  whom  God  hath 
spoken  to  us,  in  these  latter  days;  as  the  King  of  Zion,  the 
sceptre  of  whose  kingdom  is  a  right  sceptre,  and  whose  throne 
shall  stand  for  ever  and  ever,  and  as  the  High  Priest  of  the 
heavenly  sanctuary,  who  is  consecrated  a  priest  for  ever,  after 
the  order  of  Melchiseiiec;  from  his  superiority  to  Moses,  to 
Joshua,  and  every  otlier  messenger  from  heaven,  however  ex- 
alted, whether  human  or  angelic;  and,  especially,  from  the 
transcendent  superiority  of  his  priesthood  to  the  priesthood  of 
Aaron,  and  all  his  successors;  upon  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
he  leads  us  among  the  altars,  priests,  sacrifices,  and  all  the 
ritual  observances  of  that  magnificent  economy,  shewing  that 
it  was  preparatory  to  a  more  glorious  dispensation.  These 
statements  contain  a  very  condensed  epitome  of  this  wonder- 
ful epistle,  of  which  Luther  said,  that  it  is.  of  the  same  im- 
portance to  the  Christian  church,  that  the  sun  is  to  the  world. 
By  these  arguments,  he  illustrates  the  horrid  nature,  and  the 
damning  consequences  of  unbelief,  and  the  inevitable  and  most 
aggravated  condemnation  of  all  unbelievers.  In  this  fearful 
guilt,  which  has  been  accumulating  upon  her  for  upwards  of  a 
thousand  years.  Great  Britain  is  awfully  involved.  Upon  the 
same  arguments  he  founds  the  following  most  solemn  admoni- 
tions, which  are  no  less  applicable  to  Britain  than  they  were 
to  the  Jews  in  the  AjDOStolic  age: — "Therefore,  we  ought  to 
give  the  more  earnest  heed  to  the  things  which  we  have  heard, 
lest  at  any  time  we  let  them  slip;  for  if  the  word  spoken  by 
angels  was  steadfast,  and  every  transgression  received  a  meet 
recompense  of  reward,  how  shall  ye  escape,  if  ye  neglect  so 
great  salvation,  which  was  first  spoken  by  the  Lord  himself, 
and,  afterwards,  confirmed  by  signs,  and  wonders,  and  divers 
miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost?"  "Take  heed,  there- 
fore, brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  un- 
belief, in  apostatizing  from  the  living  God."  "Now  is  the 
accepted  time;"  (remember,  brethren,  that  a  vial  of  wrath  was, 
at  this  moment,  hanging  over  the  devoted  city,)  "now  is  the 
day  of  salvation;  to-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not 
your  hearts,  lest  he  swear  in  his  wrath  ye  shall  not  enter  into 
my  rest."  "If  they  escaped  not  who  refused  to  hearken  to 
him  that  spake  on  earth,"  (referring  to  the  tremendous  pro- 
mulgation of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai,)  "how  shall  ye 
escape,  if  ye  refuse  Him  that  now  speaketh  from  heaven,  and 
whose  voice  once  shook  the  earth,  but  who  hath  declared  that 
He  will  shake  not  earth  only,  but  heaven  also?"  Again,  "If 
he  who  despised  the  law  of  Moses  died  without  mercy  before 
two  or  three  witnesses,  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  sup- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  C3 

pose  )'e,  shall  ihcy  be  thought  worthy,  who  have  trodden  under 
foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant, 
— the  blood  by  which  He  made  atonement, — the  blood  by 
which  He  was  consecrated  to  his  office, — as  a  common  thing, 
and  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace."  Again,  we  know 
who  hath  said,  "Vengeance  belongs  unto  me,  and  I  will  repay." 
Again,  "It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fail  into  the  hands  of  the  living 
God."  And  again,  it  is  written,  "God  shall  judge  his  people." 
This  illustrious  epistle  was  the  last  great  alarm,  struck  in  the 
eai-s  of  the  Jewish  nation  by  an  oQ'cnded  and  a  departing  God, 
before  he  poured  out  his  wrath  in  the  destruction  of  tlieir  city 
and  temple;  and  the  last  voice  of  departing,  yet  lingering 
mercy,  before  he  closed  the  gates  of  salvation  against  them. 
May  this  loud  alarm  be  heard,  and  this  tender  of  mercy  be 
received,  by  the  whole  British  empire,  at  the  present  momen- 
tous crisis,  before  it  be  too  late! 

Every  blessing  which  God  bestows  on  an  individual,  or  a 
nation,  involves  a  degree  of  responsibility  in  proportion  to  its 
magnitude.  Upon  this  principle,  let  us  examine  the  guilt 
contracted  by  the  British  nation.  Long  has  tliis  country  been 
favoured  with  the  gospel, — the  richest  boon  which  the  God  of 
heaven  ever  bestowed  upon  nations;  and  long  has  she  been 
favoured  with  the  visible  protection  of  a  National  Providence, 
and  with  a  series  of  remarkable  interpositions  of  divine 
favour.  Witness  the  early  introduction  of  the  message  of  sal- 
vation to  our  rude  forefathers,  in  the  Apostolical  age,  and 
probably  by  an  Apostolic  ministry:  witness  the  many  burning 
and  shining  lights,  which  burned  and  siione  in  Britain,  even 
during  the  dark  ages:  witness  our  early  separation  from  the 
church  of  Rome,  (such  as  it  was,)  which  was  begun  by  the 
passions  of  a  prince,  who  intended  nothing  less  than  the  refor- 
mation in  religion  which  followed:  witness  the  defeat  of  the 
Sjianisli  armada,  ctfected  almost  entirely  without  human  agency, 
by  the  winds  and  elements  of  nature;  witness  our  deliverance, 
in  a  subsequent  reign,  from  the  attempts  of  a  gloomy  tyrant 
to  enslave  both  body  and  mind,  at  the  glorious  Revolution  of 
IGyS, — a  Revolution  brought  to  pass  witliout  the  hazard  of  a 
single  battle,  and  almost  without  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of 
blood:  and  witness  the  Bill  of  Rights,  and  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment, by  which  our  liberties,  civil  and  religious,  were,  for  the 
first  time,  enrolled  in  charter,  and  settled,  as  we  fondly  hoped, 
on  everlasting  foundations.  These  are  bright  passages  in  the 
annals  of  our  country,  on  which  our  forefathers  dwelt  with 
fond  enthusiasm,  and  which  they  often  mentioned  with  joy 
and  exultation,  as  they  were  accustomed  to  bring  out  their 
massive  family  plate  on  great  festive  occasions.     But  the  for- 


Q^  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

mation  of  Bible  Societies,  and  IVIissionary  Societies,  was  re- 
served, by  tbe  care  of  Divine  Providence,  according  to  pro- 
phetical intimations,  to  adorn  these  latter  days,  in  the  closing 
part  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third. 

If,  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  them  will  much  be 
required;  if  guilt  is  aggravated  in  proportion  to  the  number 
and  the  magnitude  of  the  blessings  perverted  and  abused, 
Britain  has  reason  to  dread  the  full  weight  of  divine  indigna- 
tion. She  is  deeply  implicated  in  the  guilt  of  those  nations, 
who  refuse  to  kiss  the  sceptre  of  Messiah  the  prince,  and 
whom  he  will  break  in  pieces  with  a  rod  of  iron,  like  a  pot- 
ter's vessel;  in  the  guilt  of  those  nations,  wlio  obey  not  the 
gospel  of  Christ;  and  whom  he  will  destroy,  with  an  ever- 
lasting destruction,  when  he  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven, 
with  all  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance. 
If  the  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  seed  of  Abraham,  the  friend 
of  God,  for  their  unbelief,  who  are  still  beloved,  as  the  Apostle 
tells  us,  for  their  fathers'  sake,  (which  is  never  said  of  the 
Gentiles,)  were  so  terrible,  during  the  last  wars  with  the 
Romans,  and  especially  during  the  last  siege  of  their  capital; 
what  tremendous  calauiities  may  we  not  fear  will  be  inflicted 
upon  the  Gentile  nations,  when  God  shall  visit  them  for  the 
same  sin,  for  which  Jerusalem  was  overthrown.  St.  Paul,  in 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  holds  out 
the  portentous  fate  of  the  Jewish  chui'ch  and  nation,  as  a 
flaming  torch,  to  warn  the  Gentile  church,  and  all  the  Gentile 
nations,  among  whom  the  gospel  is  planted,  lest  they  fall  after 
the  same  fearful  example  of  unbelief.  "If  God  spared  not  the 
natural  branches,  take  heed  lest  he  spare  not  thee."  "Through 
unbelief  they  were  cut  off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith."  "God 
hath  concluded  them  in  unbelief,  and  he  will  conclude  thee, 
for  he  will  conclude  all  in  unbelief."  "Let  the  Catholic 
Church,"  says  Bossuet,  himself  a  Roman  Catholic,  in  his  ad- 
mirable comment  on  that  mysterious  chapter,  "let  the  Catholic 
Church,  let  all  Christendom,  read  this  chapter,  and  tremble  for 
the  calamities  that  are  coming  upon  them;  for  my.  own  part,  I 
can  never  read  it  without  trembling  to  the  very  centre  of  my 
being."  Great  and  manifold  have  been  the  privileges  of 
Britain,  and  great  and  manifold  are  the  grounds  of  the  Lord's 
controversy  with  her.  While  empires  and  continents,  dense 
with  population,  into  which  her  adventurous  sons  have  pene- 
trated in  commercial  enterprise,  have  been  enveloped  in  moral 
darkness,  more  palpable  than  the  darkness  which  Egypt  once 
felt;  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  has  been  sliining  upon 
her  coasts,  through  tlie  clouds  of  her  iniquities,  in  noon-day 
brightness;  but  how  awfully  aggravated  has  been  the  criminality 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  (J5 

of  all,  with  few  exceptions,  who,  amidst  the  glory  shining 
around  them,  liave  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  against  the  heaven- 
ly light.  While,  like  Jerusalem,  only  a  few  years  hefore  the 
cup  of  trembling  was  put  into  her  hand,  she  has  been  highly 
honoured  by  the  God  of  heaven,  in  sending  her  missionaries 
to  preach  the  gospel,  as  a  witness  to  all  nations;  like  Jeru- 
fialem,  too,  she  has  rejected  the  only  sacrifice  for  sin,  refused 
lo  hearken  unto  Him  who  speaketh  from  heaven;  neglected 
the  great  salvation;  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God;  count- 
ed the  blood  of  his  sacrifice  and  consecration  a  common  thing; 
done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace,  and  thus  incurred  severer 
jHinishment  than  the  despiser  of  the  law  of  JNIoses,  who  died 
without  mercy,  before  two  or  three  witnesses.  And,  oh,  what 
a  load  of  guilt,  national  and  individual,  has  been  thus  contracted! 
On  what  national  grounds  can  we  hope  that  the  cup  of 
trembling  and  death  shall  not  be  put  into  our  hand,  when  we 
are  expressly  told  that  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  which 
are  upon  the  earth,  shall  be  made  to  drink?  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  ye  shall  certainly  drink  of  it."  And  will  not 
God's  justice  be  fully  vindicated,  in  the  infliction  of  his 
righteous  judgments  upon  our  guilty  land?  Yes,  verily.  Our 
contempt  of  his  authority,  in  neglecting  the  qualifications  re- 
quired by  his  word,  of  those  who  are  invested  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  ailairs,  and  the  sceptical  indifference  of 
our  rulers  to  the  regulation  of  their  decisions,  in  harmony 
with  the  rules  and  precepts  contained  in  the  scriptures,  and  in 
subserviency  to  the  glory  of  God,  bear  witness  against  us. 
The  gi-oans  of  our  oppressed  country, — the  aj^palling  magni- 
tude of  our  national  debt,  principally  contracted  by  fighting 
the  battles  of  Popery, — and  the  state  of  our  enslaved  and  de- 
graded colonial  population,  whose  piercing  cries  have  entered 
the  ears  of  the  Lord  God^f  Sabbaoth,  bear  witness  against 
us.  The  guilt  of  our  colonial  system, ^a  mighty  Colossus, 
bestriding  tiie  whole  world; — the  oi)scenities,  the  idolatries, 
and  the  myriads  of  murders,  committed  in  India,  under  the 
visible  protection  of  the  British  Government,  hear  witness 
against  us.  The  l)lood  of  the  house  of  Israel, — for  have  not 
all  the  cities  of  the  empire,  especially  London,  York,  and 
liristol,  been  deluged  with  the  blood  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
who,  amidst  all  tlieir  dispersions,  are  still  beloved  for  their 
fathers'  sake? — and  the  blood  of  the  saints  of  the  martyrs  of 
Jesus,  unrepented  of,  and  unwashed  away,  and  still  calling  to 
heaven  for  retribution,  bear  witness  against  us.  The  incal- 
culable multitudes  of  human  beings,  whom  we  have  butchered, 
for  the  gratification  of  our  ambition,  and  the  extension  of  our 
dominion;  the  corruptions  of  our  hierarchy,  and  the  myriads 
35- 


QQ  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

of  immortal  souls  sinking  into  perdition,  through  the  unfaith- 
fulness of  ungodly  men,  preferred  to  cures,  for  political  or 
worldly  purposes,  bear  witness  against  us.  The  Roman  Anti- 
christ herself,  for  whose  re-establishment  in  other  lands  were 
lavished  British  blood  and  treasure,  again  admitted  into  our 
national  councils,  bears  witness  against  a  land  which,  early 
among  the  nations,  escaped  from  her  pollution,  and  her  thral- 
dom, and  which  early  testified  against  her  domination  and 
blasphemous  usurpations!  Where  is  now  the  zeal  which  once 
characterized  our  opposition  to  her,  who  hath  so  often  dyed 
her  raiments  in  the  blood  of  God's  dear  saints?  Whtre  is  the 
purity  from  her  contamination,  by  which  we  were  distinguish- 
ed among  the  nations?  Where  is  the  holy  zeal  that  glowed 
with  such  intense  ardour  in  the  bosoms  of  our  Cranmers, 
Latimers,  Hookers,  and  Bradfords,  amidst  the  flames  of  Smith- 
field?  And  where  is  the  tender  affection  with  which  a  grate- 
ful nation  once  cherished  the  memory  of  those  martyred  heroes, 
to  whom  she  owes  her  civil  and  her  religious  liberties?  While 
these  things  are  forgotten  by  the  multitude,  as  a  dream  or  vision 
of  the  night,  the  government  has-  been  wielding  the  powers 
of  all  Europe  in  support  of  that  apostate  power  which  brought 
them  to  the  stake!  The  more  intimate  our  connection  with 
that  power,  the  more  deeply  we  are  infected  with  that  Infi- 
delity, with  which  she  is  tainted  to  the  core;  the  deeper  must 
we  drink  of  the  cup 'of  wrath,  which  shall  be  filled  to  the 
brim,  when  great  Babylon  cometh  up  in  remembrance  before 
God. 

But  it  is  not  merely  on  the  ground  of  the  guilt  involved  in 
our  national  policy,  that  Divine  Justice  will  vindicate  its 
honours,  in  the  infliction  of  these  awful  judgments.  The 
corruptions  of  society  in  general  are  alarming  in  the  extreme. 
Moral  diseases,  of  a  deep  and  deadly  nature,  overspread  the 
land.  Witness  the  chicanery  of  the  law;  the  frauds  and  im- 
positions in  every  branch  of  trade;  the  tricks  and  fetches  of  a 
wider  swoop  in  commercial  iniquity,  as  connected  with  our 
colonial  system.  Because  of  swearing,  and  perjury,  and 
drunkenness,  and  sabbath-breaking,  the  land  mourneth.  Im- 
purity and  prostitution,  especially  in  high  life,  perhaps  accele- 
rated by  the  Malthusian  theory  of  population,  and  tiie  labours 
of  the  political  economists,  have  awfully  increased,  and  are 
still  increasing.  Infidelity,  worldly-mindedness,  hypocrisy, 
fanaticism,  pharisaism,  antinomian  licentiousness,  and  a  false 
liberality  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  revelation  at  the  shrine  of 
human  reason,  inundate  the  church.  The  power  of  religion 
has  certainly  declined,  and  inicjuity  seems  coming  in  like  a 
flood.     Where  is  that  thoroughly  devotional  spirit,  that  stern 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE. 


67 


uprightness  of  principle,  that  holy  decision  of  character,  that 
separation  from  the  world,  and  that  dread  of  conformity  to  its 
spirit  and  maxims,  lest  their  hearts  should  not  be  right  with 
God,  which  so  eminently  distinguished  our  holy  men  in  former 
times?  In  the  Established  Church,  tiie  clergy  are  quarrellin.g 
about  their  tithes  with  their  parishioners,  and  parishioners  with 
their  clergy;  the  property  of  the  church  is  assailed  on  every 
hanti,  with  a  violence  and  perseverance,  and  defended  by 
clergymen,  with  a  tenacity  and  a  rigour,  unknown  to  former 
ages;  and  the  whole  estabiisliment  seems  reeling  to  its  fall. 
Among  the  Dissenters,  many  congregations  are  dissatisfied 
with  their  pastors,  and  pastors  with  their  congregations; 
numerous  churches  are  destitute  of  pastors,  and  numerous 
pastors  are  destitute  of  churches;  and  there  seems  to  be  a 
general  movement  in  the  Dissenting  ministry,  from  one  end 
of  the  kingdom  to  the  other.  The  students  of  propliecy  are 
consigning  their  opponents  to  perdition;  and  their  opponents 
are  charging  the  students  of  prophecy  with  madness;  while 
the  monster  Infidelity  is  looking  on  with  a  sardonic  grin.  The 
convulsions  of  churches,  in  fact,  exactly  correspond  with  those 
of  nations,  and  all  things  indicate  that  some  fearful  crisis  is  at 
hand. 

The  love  of  the  world  reigning  in  the  church,  has  extinguish- 
ed the  love  of  God;  the  line  of  separation,  between  the  world 
and  the  church,  is  destroyed;  the  very  benevolence  of  the  ags 
is  often  tainted  by  impurity  of  motive,  and  the  want  of  an 
alliance  with  integrity  of  principle,  and  often  common  honesty; 
all  the  features  of  the  last  times,  as  delineated  by  the  apostle, 
are  prominent  and  visible  amongst  us;  and  the  worst  feature 
of  all,  in  our  case,  is  a  want  of  a  due  sense  of  the  evil,  and  of 
proi)er  feelings  with  respect  to  our  declension.  We  boast  of 
our  Bible  Societies,  and  gur  Missionary  Societies,  and,  cer- 
tainly, they  are  the  brightest  ornaments  of  our  age  and  coun- 
try, and  have  been  dear  to  my  heart,  from  their  first  -institu- 
tion to  this  day;  and  God  forbid  that  I  should  say  a  word  to 
damp  their  generous  ardour,  or  to  check  the  flow  of  their 
benevolence;  but  do  we  not  sound  our  trumpets  too  loud,  and 
spread  our  phylacteries  too  wide,  if  not  in  synagogues,  at  least 
on  platforms?  And  do  not  these  things  remind  us  of  the 
awful  charge,  alleged  by  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  whose 
eyes  are  as  a  flame  of  fire,  against  the  degenerate  church  of 
Laodicea;  which  some  of  our  ablest  expositors  have  regarded 
as  a  type  of  the  last  state  of  the  Ciuirch  Catholic,  immediately 
before  he  appears  in  judgment?  ''Thou  sayest  tliat  I  am  rich, 
-and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;"  is  not 
this  too  often  the  language  of  our  annual  reports,  our  platform 


gg  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

exhibitions,  and  even  of  our  fire-side  conversations?  But 
what  saitli  the  searcher  of  liearts? — "Thou  knowest  not  that 
thou  art  wretched  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked,  and  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  therefore  I  will  cast 
thee  out  as  an  abomination."  The  very  suspicion  that  this 
may  possibly  be  the  case  should  make  us  tremble.  Upon  the 
whole,  when  we  deeply  ponder  and  seriously  reflect,  upon  our 
shocking  recklessness  of  iiuman  life,  and  our  infidel  insensi- 
bility to  the  value  of  immortal  souls,  the  iniquity  of  our  colo- 
nial system,  and  our  participation  in  the  abominations  of  Indian 
idolatry;  upon  the  universal  diffusion  of  Infidelity,  through 
all  orders  of  the  community,  and  the  general  rejection  of  the 
gospel  by  the  nation;  upon  the  sin  of  our  national  administra- 
tion, and  the  awful  state  of  things  both  in  the  world,  and  in 
the  church:  oh!  what  a  weight  of  guilt,  of  public  national 
transgression,  stands  in  fearful  record  against  .us!  Shall  not  I 
visit  for  these  things,  saith  the  Lord?  shall  not  my  soul  be 
avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this?  We  fear  and  tremble:  we 
hope,  but  it  is  against  hope;  for  how  can  we  hope  to  escape? 
We  niay,  indeed,  obtain  a  temporary  alleviation  of  the  present 
distress,  but,  instead  of  exj)ecting  any  permanent  relief,  we 
fear  it  is  only  the  commencement  of  overwhelming  calamity. 
It  is  an  observation,  that  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  that  the 
worst  feature,  in  our  case,  is  the  great  ignorance  of  our  real 
character  which  prevails,  and  the  indifference  manifested  to  our 
state  of  danger.  There  seems  to  be  a  fearful  anxiety,  on  the 
part  of  some  men  who  ought  to  know  better,  and  perhaps  who 
do  know  better,  to  conceal,  both  from  the  world  and  the 
church,  the  predictions  of  those  judgments  which  are  to  pre- 
cede the  Millennium.  How  will  such  men  escape  the  cliarge 
of  blood-guiltiness  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord?  Will  this 
ward  off  a  single  blow,  lengthen  out  the  tranquillity  a  single 
day,  or  lighten  the  wrath  of  divine  indignation?  Whether 
men  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear;  against  these  lands 
the  vengeance  of  God  is  denounced,  and  will  assuredly  be  exe- 
cuted. Britain  is  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms,  symbolized  by  the 
toes  of  the  great  and  terrible  image,  which  are  to  he  broken  to 
pieces  together;  and  by  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast, 
\vhich  is  to  be  destroyed  and  given  to  the  flame;  which  must 
be  her  doom,  unless  a  reformation,  of  which  we  have  not  the 
remotest  expectation,  can  be  eflected. 

Is  then  the  case  of  Britain  so  utterly  ho])cless?  Is  there  no 
avenue  by  which  she  may  escape?  Are  we  really  to  believe 
that  this  vast  empire, — upon  whose  dominion  the  sun  never 
sets  in  his  diurnal  or  annual  course;  and  whose  influence  is 
still  more  extensive,  reaching,  as  from   a  common  centre,  in 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  G9 

every  line  of  direction,  to  all  nations,  whether  barharous  or 
civilized, — must  inevitably  perish?  Are  we  not  assured  that 
the  inworking  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much  with 
God, — that  it  moves  the  hand  that  moves  the  universe? 
I)oul)tless;  however  fanatical  such  a  sentiment  may  appear  to 
the  purblind  eye  of  Infidelity,  it  is  unquestionably  warranted 
by  the  authority  of  scripture.  Yet  when  a  guilty  people  have 
filled  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity,  prophets  and  righteous 
men  are  forbidden,  by  the  God  of  nations,  to  pray  for  them, 
and  he  has  told  them  that  he  will  not  hear  Ihem.  Thus  he 
said  to  Jeremiah, — "Thou  shalt  not  pray  for  this  people, 
neither  shalt  thou  cry  unto  me  for  them;  for  I  will  not  hear 
thee."  And  if  such  be  now  the  state  of  Britain,  may  not  the 
prayers  of  the  righteous  be  unavailing?  But  when  Abraham 
interceded  on  behalf  of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  did  not  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  wait  until  his  servant  gave  the  signal 
for  their  destruction;  and  assured  him,  that  if  there  were  only 
ten  righteous  persons  in  Sodom,  he  would  spare  the  city  for 
their  sakes?  And  may  not  the  number  of  righteous  persons, 
therefore,  which  our  country  nourishes  in  her  bosom,  i)rove 
her  security?  I  bless  God  that  there  are,  indeed,  not  only 
ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  but  a  much  larger  number  of 
righteous  men  to  be  found  in  Britain,  who  sigh  and  cry  for 
the  abominations  which  are  done  in  the  land,  and  vvh.o  stand 
weeping  between  the  porch  and  the  altar  saying, — Oh,  Lord! 
spare  thy  people,  and  give  not  thy  heritiige  to  a  reproach! 
But  was  there  not  an  equal,  or  even  a  larger  number,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  mass  of  the  population,  in  the  land  of  Judea, 
only  a  few  years  before  Jerusalem  was  destroyed?  We  can- 
not have  forgotten  that  three  thousand  st)uls  were  converted  to 
the  obedience  of  the  faith  in  one  day;  five  thousand  on  the 
day  following;  soon  after^  a  great  multitude,  of  which  no 
nundier  is  given,  both  of  men  and  women;  that  a  great  com- 
pany of  priests  also  believed  on  Jesus;  that  the  Lord  still  con- 
tinued adding  to  the  church;  not  as  we  add  to  our  churches  in 
the  present  day — ten  or  twenty  at  most — at  a  church-meeting, 
but  multitudes  daily  of  such  as  shall  be  saved;  and  that,  be- 
sides all  this,  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  mighty,  and  prevailed 
through  all  the  regions  of  Judea,  Galilee,  and  beyond  Jordan. 
And  liovv  lovely  and  dignified  was  the  character  of  these  first 
Christians  under  the  pentecostal  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit! 
Plow  far  superior  to  the  most  eminent  Christians  of  the  pre- 
sent day!  They  continued,  with  one  accord,  in  the  Apostles' 
doctrine,  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers,  and  in  praising 
God.  They  had  one  heart,  one  soul,  arul  one  common  pro- 
perty; so  that  the  Heathens  were  constrained  to  say, — See  how 


70  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

these  Christians  love  one  another.  And  did  their  presence 
and  their  prayers  prove  the  security  of  their  beloved  city  and 
nation?  Oh!  build  not  your  confidence  on  sucli  a  sandy  foun- 
dation. And  will  the  judge  of  all  the  earth,  you  ask,  destroy 
the  righteous  with  the  wicked?  That  be  hv  from  me,  saith  the 
Lord.  An  ark  was  built  for  Noah  and  his  family,  before  the 
windows  of  heaven  were  opened,  and  the  fountains  of  the 
great  deep  were  broken  up;  a  Zoar  was  provided  for  Lot, 
before  the  Lord  rained  down  fire  and  brimstone  on  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah;  and  a  place  of  safety  was  prepared  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Judea,  for  the  devoted  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
before  Jerusalem  was  laid  in  ruins  by  the  Roman  army;  to 
which,  in  obedience  to  their  Lord's  command,  they  fled,  and 
escaped  the  terrible  fate  of  their  countrymen;  and,  in  like 
manner,  some  ark  of  salvation,  some  Zoar,  at  a  safe  distance 
from  the  place  of  the  outpouring  of  Divine  wrath;  some  Pella 
in  the  mountains,  some  refuge,  some  asylum  will  be  prepared 
to  which  the  weeping  remnant  shall  fly  and  be  safe. 

Still  you  demand,  may  not  the  institutions  of  Christian 
benevolence,  which  Britain  has  originated  and  still  so  nobly 
supports;  her  Bible  societies,  her  Missionary  societies,  and  the 
benefits  she  is  conferring,  by  their  agency,  upon  the  heathen 
world,  prove  her  security?  I  candidly  confess  that  I  was 
once  of  this  opinion,  and  called  these  excellent  institutions  not 
only  the  ornament,  but  the  safeguard  of  our  beloved  country. 
They  are  still  dear  to  my  heart,  and  may  command  any  assist- 
ance tliat  I  can  render  them,  however  feeble  it  may  be,  to  the 
utmost  extent  of  my  ability.  But  will  they  admit  of  a  compari- 
son with  the  Apostolic  Church  at  Jerusalem,  and  her  godlike  in- 
stitutions, of  whom  it  is  said,  "that  the  multitude  of  them  that 
believed  were  of  one  heart,  and  of  one  soul;  neither  said  any  of 
them  that  aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own; 
for  as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands,  and  of  houses,  sold 
them,  and  brought  the  prices  of  the  things  which  were  sold," 
and  threw  them  into  one  common  treasury,  for  the  relief  of 
the  brethren,  and  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel.  How  con- 
tracted is  the  benevolence  that  characterizes  the  church  in  the 
present  age,  however  commonable  in  itself,  compared  with  that 
of  the  mother  of  all  the  churches,  when  walking  in  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spirit  <)f  holy  love,  poured  upon  her  without  mea- 
sure! Will  the  labours  of  our  missionary  societies  bear  a 
comparison  with  those  of  the  Apostles,  and  their  fellow- 
labourers,  planting  the  gospel,  not  only  in  Lesser  Asia,  and 
Greece,  and  Italy,  the  great  theatres  of  action  tlien  in  the 
world;  but  northward  as  far  as  Scythia,  southward  as  far  as 
Ethiopia,  eastward  as  far  as  Parthia,  and  India,  and  westward 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  7X 

as  far  as  Spain  and  IJritain;  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Eusebiirs,  Socrates,  Theodorct,  Julianus,  and  all  contemporary 
historians,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical;  whose  testimony  is 
confirmed  by  that  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  tells  us, 
in  his  epistle  to  the  Colossians,  written  a  short  time  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  that  the  gospel  had  come  into  all  the 
world,  that  is  tlie  Roman  world;  and  was  preached  to  every 
creature  under  heaven — the  political  heaven  of  the  Roman 
empire?  Once  more,  can  the  benefits,  ineffable  and  important 
as  tiicy  are,  which  we  have  conferred  upon  the  heathen  na- 
tions, bear  a  comparison  with  the  gift  of  a  Saviouk,  which 
Jerusalem  conferred  upon  the  world?  And  yet  the  holy  city 
was  laid  in  ashes,  and  her  children  were  sent  into  long  and  ter- 
rible captivity.  As  before  Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  and  the 
holy  land  trodden  under  foot  of  the  Gentiles,  a  place  was  pre- 
pared for  the  church  of  God  in  the  Roman  empire;  so,  before 
the  vials  of  wrath  are  emptied  upon  the  fragments,  or  upon 
the  Papal  kingdoms  of  that  empire,  a  place  must  be  prepared 
for  the  church  beyond  its  limits.  Is  not  this  the  great  work 
which  our  Bible  societies,  and  our  Missionary  societies,  are 
now  executing  under  the  direction  of  a  special  Providence? 
And  when  this  purpose  is  executed,  may  not  the  British  empire 
be  destroyed,  as  the  Babylonian,  the  Persian,  the  Macedonian, 
and  the  old  Roman  empire,  were  overthrown,  when  the  pur- 
pose, to  which  they  were  appointed,  was  executed?  When 
the  engine  has  done  its  work,  may  it  not  be  broken  or  laid 
aside? 

But  how  long  will  it  be  to  the  end  of  these  wonders? — Is 
the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  near  at  hand?  Is  this 
the  predicted  crisis  of  the  nations,  and- of  Britain's  destiny? 
A  miraculous  degree  of  inspiration  is  necessary,  to  enable  any 
man  to  answer  these  quesljons,  j)ositively,  in  the  affirmative. 
To  this  I  make  no  pretensions,  and  therefore  I  would  guard 
against  the  presumption.  God  has  reserved  the  times  and 
seasons  in  his  own  power.  Secret  tilings  belong  to'  hiin,  and 
things  that  are  revealed  unto  us,  and  to  our  children.  But  as 
he  hath  been  pleased  to  lay  before  us  several  chronological 
prophecies,  doubtless,  with  some  wise  and  gracious  design;  it 
is  our  duty  to  examine  them,  with  devout  attention,  and  fer- 
vent prayer,  and  see  whether,  by  comparing  them  among  our- 
selves, and,  with  the  general  system  of  prophecy,  and  the 
signs  of  tiie  times;  something  may  not  be  discovered,  to  put 
us  upon  our  guard,  and  to  encourage  the  servants  of  God,  to 
bear  up  with  patience  under  the  trials  of  their  faith,  which, 
being  much  more  precious  than  that  of  gold  that  perisheth, 
though  it  be  tried  in  the  fire,  shall  be  found  to  praise,  and 


72 


THE  DESTINIES  OF 


honour,  and  glory,  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Spirit 
of  Prophecy  informed  Daniel  that,  at  the  time  of  the  end, — 
the  crisis  which  we  have  supposed  to  be  near  at  hand, — many 
shall  be  purified,  and  made  white,  and  tried;  but  that  the 
wicked  shall  go  on  to  do  wickedly;  that  none  of  the  wicked  shall 
understand  these  events  when  they  happen,  but  that  the  u-ise  shall 
understand  them. 

Seventy  prophetical  weeks,  or  490  natural  years,  according 
to  the  numerical  prophecies  of  Daniel,  were  to  intervene,  from 
the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  build  Jeru- 
salem, to  the  first  advent  of  the  Messiah.  And  the  prophecy 
was  so  well  understood  by  the  Jewish  nation,  that,  at  the  time 
of  his  appearance,  every  eye  was  open,  and  every  mind  was 
awake  and  attentive,  in  Judea,and  wherever  the  Jews  resided, 
to  mark  the  signs  which  might  indicate  his  coming.  And  not 
only  so,  but  these  prophecies  having  been  translated  into  the 
Greek  language,  which  was,  at  that  time,  universally  read,  and 
universally  understood,  a  general  expectation  of  his  appearance 
prevailed,  throughout  the  world.  The  learned  Mede,  and 
Dr.  Prideaux,  have  clearly  proved  that  Daniel,  or  rather  the  in- 
terpreting angel,  in  that  remarkable  prophecy,  not  only  pre- 
dicted the  precise  time  of  the  Saviour's  advent,  but  that  he 
divided  the  history  of  his  life  into  three  distinct  periods;  the 
first  of  which  he  spent  in  obscurity;  the  second  comprehends 
his  public  ministry,  a'nd  that  of  his  precursor,  John  the  Bap- 
tist; and  the  third,  which,  though  the  shortest,  is  incomparably 
the  most  important,  includes  the  closing  scene  of  his  suffering 
and  death;  and  that  he  also  foretold  the  year,  the  month,  and 
the  week,  '<when  the  Messiah  should  be  cut  off,  not  for  him- 
self, but  for  the  transgressions  of  the  people,  when  he  should 
finish  transgression,  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  bring  in 
everlasting  righteousness,  virtually  abolish  the  sacrifice  and 
oblation,  and  confirm  the  covenant  of  redemption."  Three 
prophetical  years  and  a  half,  or  1260  natural  years,  are  fre- 
(juently  mentioned  by  Daniel  and  St.  John,  as  the  period  that 
shall  intervene,  from  the  time  of  the  full  dominancy  of  the 
Papacy,  to  the  second  coming  of  the  Messiah,  to  destroy  the 
Man  of  Sin,  to  overthrow  the  kingdoms  of  the  Papal  empire, 
and  to  establish  his  Millennial  kingdom  in  its  meridian  glory. 

As  the  object  of  these  lectures  is  not  a  profound  or  critical 
analysis  of  the  chronological  ])ro])hecics,  but  rather  of  a  prac- 
tical nature,  I  shall  not  presume  to  say,  in  the  confident  tone 
of  infallibility,  at  what  precise  time  this  mysterious  12G0  years 
commenced;  whether  in  the  reign  of  the  tyrant  Phocas,  ac- 
cording to  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Faber,  and  other  commentators 
of  high  authority;  or  in  that  of  the  Emperor  Justinian,  as  is 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  73 

maintained  by  Mr.  Freer,  and  Mr.  Irving,  and  other  respect- 
able writers;  or  not  until  tlie  Papal  horn  was  full  grown,  and 
fully  developed,  when  the  Roman  pontiff  became  a  secular,  as 
well  as  a  spiritual,  sovereign,  in  the  reign  of  Pepin  and  Char- 
lemagne, according  to  the  interpretation  of  Bishop  Newton, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Vitringa,  and  Boulevard,  and  otlier  authors 
of  great  authority.  It  should  seem,  from  many  prophetical 
intimations,  that  vvhen  the  1260  years  have  run  out  their  course, 
or  very  soon  after,  the  Man  of  Sin  is  to  be  destroyed;  that  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Papacy  are  to  be  broken  in  pieces,  and  beaten 
to  powder;  that  the  Ottoman  empire  is  to  be  overthrown;  and 
that  the  scattered  remnant  of  Abraham's  seed  are  to  be  re- 
stored to  the  land  of  their  fathers.  But  the  Man  of  Sin  is  not 
yet  destroyed;  the  kingdoms  of  the  Papacy  are  not  yet  broken 
in  pieces;  the  Ottoman  empire  is  still  standing;  and  the  seed 
of  Abraham  are  still  scattered  among  the  nations.  We  may 
therefore,  I  think,  conclude,  that  the  mysterious  period  is  not 
yet  finished,  and  that  a  great  work  yet  remains  to  be  accom- 
plished on  the  vast  theatre  of  the  world. 

Recent  events,  Jiowever,  especially  the  late  Revolution  in 
France,  the  convulsions  of  the  continental  nations,  and  the 
sudden  and  almost  instantaneous  change  of  public  opinion  in 
this  country,  and  in  all  Europe,  prove  that  the  Supreme  Ruler 
of  the  nations  may,  and  probably  will,  accomplish  a  great 
work,  in  a  sliort  time;  and  all  things  indicate  that  the  great 
day  of  the  Lord  is  not  far  distant.  In  correspondence  with 
the  chronological  prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  the  Apocalypse, 
certain  signs,  or  prognostics,  are  given  us,  as  harbingers,  an- 
nouncing the  speedy  apj)earance  of  the  Son  of  Man,  in  the 
power  and  glory  of  his  kingdom,  '-Now,"  says  our  Lord, 
"learn  a  parable  of  the  fig-tree;  when  his  branch  is  yet  tender, 
and  putteth  forth  leaves,  ye  see  and  know,  of  your  ownselves, 
tliat  summer  is  now  nigh  at  hand.  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  see 
these  things  come  to  pass,  know  that  tlie  kingdom  of  God  is 
nigh  at  hand," 

Although  the  Father  holdeth  the  times  and  seasons  in  his 
own  power,  and  nomanknoweth  the  day,  or  the  hour,  wherein 
the  Son  of  Man  cometh;  and  although  it  was  not  given  in  com- 
mission to  the  Son,  to  make  it  known  in  his  public  ministry; 
yet,  by  comparing  the  signs  of  the  times  with  the  numerical 
prophecies,  we  may  know,  with  certainty,  when  the  awful  and 
glorious  day  of  the  Lord  is  rapidly  advancing  upon  us.  The 
great  and  broad  outlines  of  prophecy  are  obvious  to  every 
man  who  is  exercised  in  the  study  of  the  prophetical  writings, 
iong  before  the  predicted  events  are  fulfilled;  but  the  smaller 
lines  which  refer  to  the  times,  the  places,  and  the  minute  cir- 

voL.  II. — 36 


•^4.  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

cumstances  of  their  accomplishment,  are  more  faintly,  or  less 
distinctly,  defined;  and  it  has  pleased  God,  that  a  considerable 
obscurity  should  rest  upon  the  prophetical  dates,  until  the  con- 
summation is  drawing  near.  Thus  the  prophecies  of  Daniel 
were  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end,  when  the 
book  was  to  be  opened,  the  seals  were  to  be  removed,  the 
mysterious  dates  were  to  be  developed,  many  were  to  run  to 
and  fro,  and  prophetical  knowledge  was  to  be  increased.  The 
period  here  foretold,  is  that  in  which  we  are  now  living;  for 
never  since  the  time  of  the  Reformation  has  there  been  such 
deep  and  intense  attention  paid  to  the  sacred  prophecies  as 
within  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  The  seals  are  now  being 
removed,  the  signs  of  the  times  shed  a  light  on  the  prophetical 
dates,  the  prophetical  dates  reflect  their  light  upon  the  signs  of 
the  times,  while  the  general  or  discursive  predictions  lend 
their  beams  also  to  the  general  stock  of  information;  and  all 
together  form  a  concentrated  body  of  light,  visible  and  con- 
spicuous to  all,  except  to  those  who  are  wilfully  blind. 

Among  the  signs  of  the  times,  or  the  precursors,  which  an- 
nounce the  speedy  approach  of  the  great  day  of  the  Lord, 
witness  the  present  concussion  of  the  nations. 

We  have  entered  on  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  great  wheel  of  human  affairs  has  nearly  turned  round  once 
in  our  time;  revolution  again  has  begun  its  march,  and  God, 
who  has  said,  "I  will  Overturn,  will  overturn,  will  overturn  it, 
and  it  shall  be  no  more  until  he  come,  whose  right  it  is,  and  I 
will  give  it  him," — has  told  us  wliere  all  these  mighty  revolu- 
tions will  terminate,  that  is  in  the  downfall  of  the  Papal  king- 
doms in  the  western  Roman  empire;  in  the  annihilation  of 
the  Turkish  empire;  in  the  destruction  of  the  heathen  nations, 
in  their  national  capacity;  and,  finally,  0!  transporting  thought, 
in  the  universal  establishment  of  the  millennial  kingdom  of  our 
Redeemer. 

The  simultaneous  shaking  of  ajl  the  provinces  of  the  Otto- 
man empire  with  the  convulsions  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
Papacy,  is  another  sign  that  the  day  of  God  is  advancing. 
Popery  and  Mahomedanism — the  great  eastern  and  western 
apostacies,  rose  about  the  same  time;  and,  about  the  same  time, 
according  to  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  they  may  be  expected  to 
fall  in  one  common  ruin. 

The  fearful  progress  of  Infidelity  is  mentioned,  as  another 
prognostic  of  tiie  nearness  of  that  great  and  terrible  day.  Daniel 
foretold,  that  when  the  reign  of  Papal  superstition  was  nearly 
over,  at  the  time  of  the  end,  an  Infidel  power  should  arise,  and 
do  according  to  his  will;  that  he  should  exalt  himself  and 
magnify  himself  above  every  god,  and  speak  marvellous  things 
against  the  God  of  gods;  and  should  prosper  till  the  indigna- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  75 

tion  be  accomplished.  And  have  we  not  seen  in  these  latter 
days  an  Atheistical  monster  rising  out  of  the  foetid  and  vermin- 
producing  marshes  of  the  Mother  of  Harlots,  in  a  neighbouring 
country;  possessed  and  goaded  on  by  infernal  furies,  breaking 
down  the  thrones  and  overturning  the  altars  of  Papal  super- 
stition; stalking  abroad  among  the  nations,  with  portentous 
stri'des;  trampling  upon  every  thing  sacred  and  divine;  shaking 
the  foundations  and  tearing  the  very  elements  of  society; 
exalting  and  magnifying  liimscif  above  all  the  gods  whom  his 
fathers  worshij)pcd;  denouncing  and  cursing  the  Son  of  God 
as  an  im])ostor;  speaking  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of 
gods;  blaspheming  his  name;  impiously  denying  his  very  ex- 
istence; and  shedding  pestilence  and  death  throughout  Europe 
and  the  world?  Then  the  reign  of  the  last  scourge  of  the 
.church  commenced;  nor  was  the  temporary  re-establishment 
of  Popery  by  Napoleon,  nor  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons, 
nor  the  recent  expulsion  of  Charles  X.  any  interruption  to  his 
reign:  in  the  present  French  government,  he  is  again  embo- 
died in  full  power,  and  will  ere  long,  discover  his  impious  and 
his  sanguinary  character.  Under  this  reign  we  are  now  living; 
but,  blessed  be  God,  it  will  be  of  short  duration.  The  Apos- 
tles Peter,  Paul,  and  Jude  forewarned  the  church,  that  in  the 
last  days  of  the  last  times,  perilous  times  should  come;  that 
Atheistical  scoffers  should  arise,  walking  after  their  own  lusts, 
and  saying.  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  laughing  at 
the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  second  advent;  willingly  ignorant 
of  tlie  ti-emendous  catastrophe  of  the  deluge;  boasters,  proud, 
blasphemers;  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good;  traitors, 
heady,  high-minded;  despising  government,  presumptuous, 
self-willed,  speaking  evil  of  dignities;  ever  learning,  boasting 
of  the  march  of  intellect  and  scientific  discovery,  but  never 
able  to  come  to  the  knowl^jdge  of  the  truth;  resisters  of  the 
truth;  men  of  corrupt  minds,  rcj^robate  concerning  the  faith; 
promising  the  people  liberty,  while  they  themselves  are  the 
servants  of  corruption;  mockers,  blas])hemers  of  the  name  of 
God:  in  short,  Infidels  and  Atheists,  who  deny  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  the  only  Lord  God,  who  made  heaven  and  earth;  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  has  sent  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  These  are  the  features  of  the  last  days  of  the  last 
times,  and  they  are  the  characteristics  of  these  days  and  these 
times;  we  are  therefore,  living  in  the  last  days  of  the  last 
times,  and  may,  consequently,  expect  the  speedy  appearance 
of  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  "When  the  Son  of  Man 
cometh,"  says  the  Son  of  Man  himself,  "will  he  find  faith  in 
•the  earth?"  Such  an  interrogation  on  a  subject  so  awful,  pro- 
ceeding from  lips  so  sacred,  implies  the  strongest  negation;  as 


lyg  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

if  he  had  said, — when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  the  faith  of 
God's  elect  will  be  nearly  extinct.  And  the  great  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles,  when  speaking  of  the  breaking  off  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, or  the  unnatural  branciies  from  the  olive-tree,  for  their 
unbelief,  and  the  re-engrafting  the  Jews,or  the  natural  branches, 
into  their  own  olive,  tells  us,  that  God,  who  had  before  con- 
cluded the  Jews  in  unbelief,  will  conclude  the  Gentiles  also  in 
unbelief;  and  afterwards  have  mercy  upon  all,  at  the  re- 
engrafting  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  when  the  Redeemer 
shall  come  to  Zion,  and  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob; 
and  the  receiving  of  the  Jews  shall  be  as  life  from  the  dead  to 
the  Gentile  world.  Things  are  now  rapidly  hastening  to  this 
awful  state  of  unbelief,  which  made  Bossuet  say,  in  words  I 
have  before  cited,  "Let  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  let  all 
Christendom  read  this  chapter,  and  tremble  for  the  calamities 
that  are  coming  upon  them." 

The  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  heathen  lands,  to  prepare 
a  place  for  the  church  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Papal  empire, 
before  it  is  broken  in  pieces  and  annihilated,  is  another  sign 
indicating  the  nearness  of  that  day.  For  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom,  our  Lord  has  told  us,  must  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  as  a  witness  to  all  nations;  not,  you  will  observe,  for 
the  conversion  of  all  nations — for  this  glorious  and  immense 
accession  to  the  kingdom  of  our  Redeemer  is  an  achievement 
reserved  for  the  millertnial  age — but  as  a  witness  to  all  nations: 
and  when  this  witness  has  gone  its  rounds,  then  the  end  of  the 
age,  or  the  present  state  of  things,  shall  come.  Look,  with 
fixed  and  devout  attention,  upon  the  union  and  co-operation  of 
our  Bible  and  Missionary  societies:  observe  their  progress, 
mark  their  success  from  nation  to  nation,  from  region  to  re- 
gion, and  behold  in  them  the  symbolical  angel  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  shaking  eternal  bless- 
ings from  his  wings,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach 
to  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth.  This  remarkable  sign, 
moving  with  speed  and  majesty  in  the  spiritual  heaven  of  the 
universal  church,  and  indicating  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  is 
visible  to  all  nations;  for  the  symbolical  angel  takes  wing  im- 
mediately before  the  days  of  vengeance.  And  it  is  remarkable, 
that  these  noble  institutions  of  Christian  benevolence  originated 
in  this  country,  at  the  momentous  crisis  when  the  Papal  king- 
doms began  to  shake  under  the  visitations  of  divine  wrath. 
Yes,  my  brethren,  it  was  amidst  the  rage  and  madness  of 
Atheism, — amidst  the  horrors  and  chaos  of  anarchy  and  revo- 
lution,— that  these  societies  rose  with  placid  dignity;  combin- 
ing, as  they  rose,  the  wealth,  the  talents,  the  influence,  and 
the  energies  of  myriads  of  Christians,  in  various  nations  and  of 


TFIE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  77 

all  denominations,  in  one  generous  cfiTort  to  rescue  the  heathen 
world  Irom  the  hondage  of  corruption.  Verily  the  finger  of 
God  is  here.  Mark  this  sign  ol"  the  speedy  coming  of  the 
Lord,  for  it  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our 
eyes.  * 

The  deep  interest  that  has,  of  late  years,  heen  awakened  for 
the  Jewish  nation,  the  extraordinary  movements  now  taking 
place  among  that  wonderful  people,  and  the  eager  expectation, 
which  at  this  moment  prevails  among  them,  of  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah,  is  another  indication  that  he  will  speedily  make 
his  ai)pearance.  A  small  remnant  of  tlie  seed  of  Abraham, 
according  to  the  election  of  grace,  have  been,  within  these  few 
years,  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  like  the  grapes  of  the 
vine  after  the  vintage;  only  here  a  berry,  and  there  a  berry, 
upon  the  topmost  boughs;  and  Christian  churches,  consisting 
exclusively  of  converted  Jews,  have  been  formed,  and  are  now 
forming,  both  in  this  country,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and 
in  the  east.  The  Jews  in  Poland,  where  they  exist  in  prodi- 
gious numbers,  and  are,  it  is  said,  formed  into  armies  of  the 
finest  soldiers  in  Europe,  and  commanded  by  officers  and 
generals  of  their  own  nation,  frequently  assemble  in  their  syna- 
gogues, for  fasting,  humiliation,  and  united  supplications  to 
the  God  of  their  fathers;  with  their  faces  directed  to  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  according  to  the  import  of 
Solomon's  prayer;  under  a  deep  impression  that  the  years  of 

*  The  Boston  Transcript  contains  a  letter,  giving  a  description  of  an  anni- 
versary of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  The  closing  part  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"This,  remember,  is  the  Bible  society.  They  confine  themselves  to  the  un- 
adulterated word  of  God.  They  have  circulated  more  than  half  a  million 
copies  last  year,  and  over  ten  millions  in  all.  Their  income  was  over  $500,000. 
All  over  the  earth  they  have  their  stations  and  agents.  The  Secretary  .said 
he  believed  even  the  Barings  thgmselves,  never,  in  one  day,  accepted  bills 
from  so  many  quarters.  They  count  upon  it,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  be  in  debt 
S-Ot),000.  They  count  upon  its  increase,  too.  It  has  increased  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  some  S75,000  during  the  last  season  alone.  The  society  has  is- 
sued 107  diflerent  volumes  of  Bibles  in  more  than  80  languages.-  A  splendid 
beneficence  it  is  indeed,  beautiful  in  spirit;  in  management,  a  glory  to  Great 
Britain;  in  operation  a  blessing  to  the  world — i(  almost  makes  amends  for  the 
bloody  ravages  in  which  England  has  often  led  the  way.  It  cheers  me  with 
the  consciousness  of  improved  humanity,  and  with  the  hope  of  still  better 
days.  I  give  you  the  Bible  Society  as  a  spedimen.  It  is  no  more  than  a  just 
one.  Most  of  these  societies,  I  believe,  are  conducted  upon  what  Christians 
generally  call  broad  liberal  principles.  All  of  them  are  distinguished  by  the 
strongest  English  traits  and  habits  of  business;  by  great  energy,  and  a  fearless 
enterprise,  united  steady  judgment  and  accurate  calculation  of  particulars. 
No  mercantile  firm  in  Great  Britain  could  do  that  business  better  than  they 
do.  Their  reports,  however  extensive,  are  infallibly  correct  to  a  farthing;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  succinct  and  clear  as  light.  Their  zeal  as  institutions  or  as 
individuals,  does  not  interfere  with  their  coolness  or  science  as  agents  in  a 
preat  undertaking  on  behalf  of  the  whole  religious  community  of  Great 
Britain.  It  only  makes  them  still  more  scrupulous,  assiduous,  and  faithful." 
36* 


78 


THE  DESTINIES  OF 


their  long  captivity  are  hastening  to  a  close;  and  that  their 
God  will  soon  turn  again  the  captivity  of  his  people.  In  Ger- 
many, especially  in  Poland,  in  the  Russian  empire,  in  the 
various  provinces  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  rn  all  the  eastern 
nations,  there  is  a  universal  expectation  of  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah;  not  less  intense  than  that  which  preceded  his  first 
coming,  when  he  came  to  his  own,  and  his  own  people  re- 
ceived him  not.  About  twenty  years  ago,  scarcely  200  Jews 
could  be  found  in  all  Judea;  and  now,  it  is  said,  that  there  are 
not  less  than  20,000,  and  their  number  is  every  year  increas- 
ing; indeed  there  seems  to  be  a  general  movement  of  the 
whole  nation.*     Do  not  all  these  things  speak  aloud,  as  with 

*  The  manner  in  which  this  subject  is  treated  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
extracts  from  the  secular  press: 

"A  letter  has  been  received  in  New  York,  from  a  gentleman  of  high  stand- 
ing in  the  literary  and  diplomatic  circles  of  Berlin,  dated  Feb.  15th,  1841.  The 
Commercial  Advertiser,  in  commenting  on  a  return  of  rhe  Jews  to  the  East, 
says  that  the  matter  depends  almost  "simply  upon  a  word  from  Prince  Metter- 
nich  and  Lord  Palmerston.  We  happen  to  know  that  a  pamphlet  was  print- 
ed and  circulated  last  summer  in  Beilin,  urging  upon  the  lour  powers  the 
establishment  of  Palestine  as  an  independent  slate,  whither  the  Jews  might 
return  with  an  assurance  of  protection  and.  security."  The  same  paper  then 
proceeds  to  make  the  following  extract  from  the  letter  to  which  we  have  al- 
luded, observing  that  it  serves  to  show  ihat  the  subject  has  not  been  lo.st 
sight  of,  and  is  perhaps  brought  nearer  to  some  important  decision  than  the 
public  has  been  aware  of: 

'The  allies  having  obtained  their  end  in  Syria,  are  somewhat  at  a  loss  how 
to  dispose  of  their  conquest.  They  are  seriously  thinking  of  setting  up,  or  re- 
viving, a  Christian  kingdom' at  Jerusalem, — a  project  which  seems  to  be  re- 
ceived with  favour  at  Vienna.  But  then  what  are  they  to  do  vviih  the  other 
Christian  population  of  Syria?  This  is  one  of  the  questions  which  France 
has  asked  them.  They  are  now  very  anxious  to  draw  her  from  the  isolated 
position  into  which  they  have  forced  her;  as  they  find  that  after  all  they  can- 
not permanently  and  satisfactorily  settle  the  East  without  her  concurrence. 

'To  those  who  have  an  opportunity  of  reading  the  diplomatic  papers,  it  is 
curious  and  amusing  to  see  the  game  that  is  going  on,  between  those  faithful, 
confiding,  and  loving  allies,  England  and  Russia,  in  attempting  to  entice 
France  to  favour  their  respective  projects  in  the  Levant.  Under  the  pretext 
of  preserving  peace  among  the.  different  members  of  the  great  Mohammedan 
family,  they  have  put  at  immediate  hazard  the  peace  of  Christendom;  and 
now  affect  to  be  very  much  surprised  that  the  French  should  think  of  fortify- 
ing their  capital.  Their  real  opinion  is  in  favour  of  that  project,  as  a  means 
of  giving  France  additional  strength,  not  merely  for  defensive  but  for  ofien- 
sive  war.     Such  is  the  opinion  of  the  best  militai-y  authorities  here.' 

'The  Jewish  InlcUigenccr  for  February,  1841,  gives  the  following  account 
of  M.  Guizot's  proposal  of  the  freedom  of  Jerusalem,  under  the  equal  protec- 
tion of  all  the  Powers,  without  supremacy  of  any  one  in  particular,  with 
liberty  of  religion:— 'This  idea  was,  for  the  first  time,  expressed  at  a  public 
dinner,  at  which  Mr.  Eynard  and  M.  Guizot,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
were  present;  and  it  seemed  even  as  if  the  latter  was  the  first  to  start  it.  Mr. 
Eynard  has  since  been  extremely  active  in  pursuing  the  matter.  He  has  re- 
quested the  editor  of  V Esptrance  to  write  an  article  on  the  subject.  He  has 
seen  several  influential  persons  who  have  partaken  in  the  same  desire;  he  has 
mentioned  it  in  the  highest  quarter;  and  he  doubts  not  but  that  France,  if 
otherwise  satisfied  with  the  Eastern  question,  will  strongly  and  successfully 
support  the  project.  He  particularly  desires  that  public  opinion  should  be 
elicited  on  tne  subject;  he  still  recollects  how,  when  the  question  was  of 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  79 

the  voice  of  God,  telling  the  nations  that  the  prophecy  is  going 
to  be  fuiniled,  which  says,  that  "the  ciiilih-en  of  Israel  after 
having  been  for  many  clays  without  a  king,  and  without  a 
prince,  and  without  sacrifice,  and  witiiout  an  image,  and  with- 
out an  ephod  or  ])riest,  and  witiiout  tcraphim  or  cherubim, 
shall  afterwards  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and 
David  their  king;  and  shall  fear  the  Lord,  and  his  goodness, 
in  the  latter  days."  The  throne  of  David,  be  it  remembered, 
is  the  throne  of  the  Messiah,  who  shall  have  dominion  from 
the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth;  and  the  universal  domi- 
nion promised  to  David,  is  the  universal  dominion  of  the  Mes- 
siah, which  is  the  great  subject  of  universal  prophecy,  and 
especially  that  of  our  text.  Come  hither,  says  an  ancient 
father  of  the  church,  all  ye  seed  of  Abraham,  peeled  and 
bruised,  and  scattered  among  the  nations;  come  and  sit  down 
with  me  at  the  feet  of  the  great  and  terrible  image,  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  saw  in  the  visions  of  the  night;  look  up,  and 
behold  the  burnislied  gold  and  silver,  and  brass  and  iron; 
symbols  of  the  mighty  monarchies  by  which  you  have  been 
persecuted  and  broken;  behold  that  little  stone,  cut  out  of  the 
mountain  without  hands,  smiting  the  image  on  its  feet  and  toes, 
and  breaking  the  gold,  the  silver,  the  brass,  and  the  iron,  to 
pieces,  becoming  a  great  mountain,  and  filling  the  whole  earth, 
— that  little  stone  is  the  emblem  of  your  Messiah's  kingdom, 
which  shall  break  in  pieces  all  these  kingdoms,  and  stand  for 
ever.  In  all  things  the  Jews  have  the  pre-eminence.  The 
promise,  says  the  Apostle,  is  first  to  the  Jews,  and  then  to  the 
Gentiles.  Tiie  Gentiles  were  added  to  the  Jewish  Christian 
church  at  Jerusalem,  the  mother  of  us  all;  they  were  unnatural 
branches  ingrafted  into  the  Jewish  olive,  of  which  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant  is  the  root  and  the  fatness;  they  are  living 
stones  builded  together  with  the  Jews  upon  the  foundations  of 
ti)e  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner  stone;  all  of  Jewish  extraction.  And  when  the  first 
heavens  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away,  and  the  new  Jeru- 
salem comes  down  from  God,  out  of  heaven,  in  all  her  Mil- 
lennial purity  and  glory;  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  the  rcj)resentatives  of  the  Jewish  church,  are  seen  writ- 
ten on  her  twelve  gates,  and  the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles 
of  the  Lamb,  all  Jews,  are  engraved  on  her  twelve  foundations. 
The  present  state,  therefore,  of  that  extraordinary  people  is 


Greece,  in  which  he  then  took  and  still  takes  a  lively  interest,  pnblic  opinion 
had  the  most  happy  influence  upon  the  Governments.  And  certainly  that 
would  be  a  beautiful  result,  if  Jerusalem  was  made  free,  and  liberty  restored 
to  Zion.' 


go  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

another  sign  that  the  restitution  of  all  things,  at  the  second 
coming  of  the  Messiah,  is  at  hand. 

The  infidel  insensibility  of  the  world,  and  the  awful  torpor 
of  the  church  as  to  the  signs  of  the  times  and  the  indications 
of  the  Redeemer's  speedy  approach,  are  also  subjects  of  direct 
prophecy.  With  regard  to  the  world,  that  day,  we  know, 
shall  come  on  them  as  a  thief  breaking  open  the  house  in  the 
dead  of  the  night;  for  when  they  cry  peace,  peace,  and  even 
laugh  at  the  promise  of  his  coming,  sudden  destruction  shall 
come  upon  them,  and  they  shall  not  escape.  "As  it  was  in 
the  days  before  the  flood,"  saith  our  Lord,  "they  were  eating 
and  drinking,  marrying  and  given  in  marriage,  until  the  day 
that  Noah  entered  into  the  ark,  and  knew  not,  until  the  flood 
came,  and  took  them  all  away;  so  shall  it  be  in  the  day  where- 
in the  Son  of  Man  cometh.  Likewise,  also,  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Lot,  they  did  eat,  they  drank,  they  bought,  they  sold, 
they  planted,  they  builded;  but  the  same  day  that  Lot  went 
out  of  Sodom,  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and 
destroyed  them  all.  Even  thus  shall  it  be  in  the  day  when  the 
Son  of  Man  is  revealed."  Such  was  the  state  of  the  Jews 
before  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem:  but  that  this  passage  is 
chiefly  intended  to  describe  the  general  state  of  mankind,  just 
before  the  final  judgment,  it  is  evident  from  the  first  chapter 
of  the  second  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  and  the  seventh 
verse.  There  the  apostle  is  confessedly  speaking  of  the  last 
judgment,  the  day  of  which  he  calls  the  day  "when  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty  angels, 
in  flaming  fire."  Is  not  this,  then,  "the  day  when  the  Son 
of  Man  is  revealed?"  But  you  will  ask,  what  fault  is  here? 
Is  it  a  crime  to  eat  and  to  drink,  to  marry,  to  buy,  to  sell,  to 
plant,  to  build?  Certainly  not:  the  acts  themselves,  abstract- 
edly taken,  are  lawful,  but  the  principle  was  criminal.  All 
sprung  from  infidelity,  and  an  inordinate  love  of  this  present 
evil  world.  They  believed  not  God,  speaking  by  Noah,  the 
preacher  of  righteousness.  The  patriarch,  both  in  his  public 
ministry,  and  by  building  the  ark,  when  warned  of  God,  gave 
testimony  of  the  fear  of  God,  and  thus  "he  became  heir  of  the 
righteousness  which  is  by  faith."  By  this,  he  is  said  to  have 
condemned  the  world,  which  did  not  believe  in  God,  did  not 
fear  God,  but  despised  the  ark  of  salvation;  and  thus  became 
heirs  of  the  unrighteousness  and  condemnation,  which  is  by 
unbelief.  Thus  it  was  with  the  Infidels  of  the  old  world; 
thus  it  was  with  the  Infidels  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah;  thus  it 
was  with  the  Infidels  of  Jerusalem  and  the  land  of  Judea;  and 
thus  it  will  be  with  the  Infidels  of  these  last  times.  Void  of 
thought,  destitute  of  faith,  and  reckless  of  futurity,  they  are 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  81 

like  victims  dancinp;  round  the  altar  on  which  they  are  about 
to  be  sacrificed.  That  day  shall  come  upon  all  them  that 
dwell  upon  the  earth,  as  a  snare.  Let  us  now  look  for  the 
last  si<2;n  within  the  sacred  enclosure  of  the  church  of  God. 
This  also,  it  is  remarkable,  forms  a  subject  of  prophecy.  Our 
Lord  spake  several  parables  to  his  disciples,  concerninfi;  his 
second  advent;  and  in  one  of  these,  the  state  of  ihe  church, 
with  respect  to  her  expectation  of  her  Lord's  return,  is  clearly 
intimated.  "Then  (at  the  time  of  his  coming)  shall  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  be  likened  unto  ten  virgins,  which  took  their 
lamps  and  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  And  five  of 
them  were  wise,  and  five  were  foolish.  They  that  were 
foolish  took  their  lamps,  and  took  no  oil  with  them;  but  the 
wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps,  JVhile  the 
hrideoroom  lurried — (mark  what  follows,) — they  all  slumbered 
and  slept.  And  at  midnight,  there  was  a  cry  made,  behold,  the 
bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him."  The  whole  pro- 
fessing church,  both  real  Christians  and  hypocrites,  is  thus  re- 
presented as  falling  asleep  while  the  Lord  delayeth  his  coming, 
and  roused  from  its  death-like  lethargy  by  the  annunciation  of 
his  return. 

How  strikingly  does  this  parable  characterize  the  present 
state  of  the  professing  church.  Listead,  therefore,  of  the  pre- 
sent indifference  and  Infidelity  manifested  by  professors,  being 
any  shadow  of  evidence  against  the  truth  of  the  doctrines 
stated  in  these  lectures,  that  circumstance  is  in  itself  a  proof 
that  the  time  is  near  at  hand.  The  midnight  cry  is  now  heard: 
is  not  his  coming,  therefore,  near,  very  near;  even  at  the  door? 
It  can  surely  be  little  satisfaction  to  the  true  Christian  to  know 
that  his  lisllessness  has  more  effectually  lulled  an  ungodly 
world  into  security.  For  you  yourselves  know  perfectly,  that 
the  day  of  the  Lord  cometlj  as  a  thief  in  the  night.  For  when 
they  shall  say  peace  and  safety,  then  sudden  destruction  cometh 
upon  them.  But  are  there  none,  even  among  those  who-make 
a  decided  profession  of  the  gospel,  who  have,  in  these  last 
times,  joined  themselves  with  the  Infidel  scoffers  in  asking, 
where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  Blessed  are  those  ser- 
vants whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watching. 
But,  alas!  alas!  professing  Christians  of  the  present  day  have 
assumed  a  very  different  attitude.  How  clearly  did  the  om- 
niscient Jesus  foresee,  and  how  distinctly  did  he  foretell,  the 
present  awful  state  of  the  visible  church,  as  immediately  pre- 
ceding his  second  appearance. 

All  these  signs  of  the  times,  shedding  their  light  upon  the 
mysterious  dates  of  the  chronological  prophecies,  and  deriving 
light  from  them  in  return,  i.  e.  the  present  concussions  of  the 


g2  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

nations;  the  simultaneous  shaking  of  the  Ottoman  and  the 
Papal  empires;  the  reign  and  dominancy  of  Infidelity;  the 
extensive  propagation  of  the  gospel  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
western  Roman  empire;  the  state  of  feeling  and  excitement 
in  the  Jewish  nation;  the  Infidel  indifference  of  the  world; 
the  death-like  slumber  of  the  church;  and  the  midnight  cry 
that  has  recently  been  raised,  and  that  is  now  ringing  in  the 
ears  of  an  Infidel  world,  and  a  sleeping  church;  all  indicate 
that  the  1260  years  have  nearly,  at  least,  run  out  their  course. 
And  when  ye  see  these  things,  know  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand.  Of  that  day  and  that  hour  knoweth  no 
man;  but  we  may  know  with  certainty,  by  these  signs  and 
these  prophecies,  that  it  is  fast  approaching. 

But  your  time  forbids  me  to  proceed.  In  our  next  lecture, 
we  shall  inquire  into  the  duties  of  British  Christians,  and  of 
all  classes  of  the  community  in  Great  Britain,  at  this  crisis; 
and  whether  there  be  any  foundation  to  hope  for  an  escape 
from  these  awful  visitations,  or  of  securing  a  mitigation  of  our 
punishment,  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord.  To  conclude; — 
the  midnight  cry  is  now  heard  from  a  thousand  voices;  behold 
the  bridegroom  cometh;  he  comes  in  clouds  of  flaming  fire, 
with  all  his  mighty  angels,  taking  vengeance.  But  who  may 
abide  the  day  of  his  coming?  Not  the  unbelieving  and  im- 
penitent; they  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without 
remedy.  Not  the  hypocrite  and  the  formalist,  roused  from 
their  fatal  delusions,  when  it  is  too  late;  like  the  foolish  virgins, 
they  shall  find  the  gates  of  mercy  for  ever  closed  against  them. 
Who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth?  They  who  wait  for 
him,  and  who  love  his  appearing,  and  his  kingdom.  Go  ye 
out  to  meet  him;  shake  off  the  lethargy  with  which  you  are 
oppressed;  gird  your  loins;  trim  your  lamps,  keep  them  ever 
burning  and  shining;  be  watchful,  be  sober,  and  hope  unto  the 
end,  for  the  grace  which  shall  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  reve- 
lation of  Jesus  Christ.  Behold  he  cometh  in  clouds  of  glory! 
Prepare  my  soul  to  meet  him! 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  83 

LECTURE  IV. 

Daniel  ii.  44. 

"A?>d  in  ihe  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
kingdom,'''  ^'C. 

The  subject  of  these  lectures  is  not  political,  but  religious. 
Their  object  is  not  speculation,  but  practice;  not  to  gratify  a 
vain  curiosity,  or  to  intrude  into  the  secret  cabinet  of  the  Most 
High,  and,  with  a  rash  hand,  to  lift  up  the  veil  which  he  has 
drawn  over  his  secret  councils,  any  farther  than  he  has  been 
pleased  to  reveal  them  by  his  servants,  his  prophets;  but  to 
impress  upon  the  minds  of  my  countrymen,  and  especially  my 
Christian  brethren,  the  duties  which  are  imperatively  binding 
upon  them,  at  this  great  and  eventful  crisis.  What  conclusion 
you  may  have  drawn  from  the  facts  and  circumstances  that 
have  been  laid  before  you,  and  from  those  awful  parts  of  sacred 
prophecy,  at  which  we  have  glanced,  1  know  not;  but  tlie  im- 
pression on  my  own  mind  is,  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is 
drawing  near,  and  that,  althougli  there  is  at  present  a  pause 
among  the  nations,  yet  that  this  pause  is  only  that  short  one, 
intimated  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Revelations, 
preparatory  to  those  fearful  convulsions,  which  are  to  follow 
the  outpouring  of  the  seventh  vial.  Every  attentive  observer 
must  be  aware  that  the  evil  principles  of  Infidelity,  Popery, 
and  disorganization,  are  alU  busily  at  work,  and  preparing 
materials  for  some  prodigious  explosion.  Such,  at  this  instant, 
is  the  precise  state  of  things.  Soon,  therefore,  we  may  ex- 
pect •'•that  the  great  voice  will  come  out  of  the  temple  of 
lieaven,  from  the  throne,  saying — It  is  done.  And  then,  to- 
gether with  voices,  and  thunders,  and  lightning,  there  will  be 
a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men  were  ujion  earth, 
so  mighty  an  earthquake,  and  so  great."  How  awful  is  even 
the  apprehension  of  such  a  concussion  to  happen  in  our  time! 
Should  it  be  realized,  what  will  be  the  doom  of  our  country? 
What  will  be  your  lot,  my  dear  brethren?  Let  me  urge  the 
(question  home  upon  my  own  heart;  what  will  be  my  doom  in 
that  awful  day?  To  be  indifferent,  is  not  wisdom,  but  infatua- 
tion. 

Be  our  opinion,  however,  what  it  may,  yet  let  us  remember 


§4  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

that  as  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord,  and  only  things  re- 
vealed to  us,  and  to  our  children,  and  as  the  plain  and  positive 
precepts  of  scripture,  and  not  the  eternal  decrees  of  God,  are 
the  rule  by  which  men  and  nations  are  to  act  and  govern  them- 
selves; so  no  opinion  we  may  form,  from  the  light  of  prophecy, 
and  the  signs  of  the  times,  should  induce  us  to  neglect  those 
means,  by  which  we  may  hope,  if  possible,  to  escape  the 
threatened  judgments,  or  at  least  to  gain  a  lengthening  out  of 
the  tranquillity.  A  ray  of  hope  may,  perhaps,  be  derived 
from  that  solemn  and  gracious  declaration  of  the  Most  High, 
by  the  prophet  Jeremiah:  "At  what  instant  I  shall  speak  con- 
cerning a  nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  pluck  up  and 
to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy;  if  that  nation,  against  whom  I 
have  pronounced  these  things,  turn  from  their  evil,  I  will  re- 
pent of  the  evil  that  I  thought  to  do  unto  them." 

Our  own  eternal  destiny,  which  is  to  each  of  us,  as  indi- 
viduals, immensely  more  important  than  the  destinies  of  all 
the  empires  in  the  world,  demands  our  awakened  and  most 
serious  attention.  The  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  is  the  king- 
dom of  immortal  souls,  ransomed  from  eternal  death  by  its 
great  founder,  and  placed  by  the  side  of  this  kingdom,  by  the 
Spirit  of  Prophecy;  the  magnificent  empires  of  Babylon, 
Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  at  once  the  terror  and  admiration 
of  the  world,  are  but  as  the  chaff  of  the  summer  thrashing- 
floors,  which  the  wind  carrieth  away,  so  that  no  place  is  found 
for  them.  Death,  whenever  it  comes,  will  assuredly  be  the 
end  of  the  world  to  each  of  us,  when  our  fate  will  be  irre- 
vocably sealed,  and  no  speculation  upon  the  fate  of  nations  can 
prepare  us  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If  we  are  to  judge  of 
the  magnitude  of  an  object  from  the  means  made  to  secure  it, 
and  the  price  paid  for  it,  by  a  wise  intelligence,  man  must  be 
of  more  importance  than  a  world;  for  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Lord  of  Glory,  would  not  die  to  create  a  world;  a  word  was 
sufficient — he  spake  and  it  was  done:  nor  to  preserve  it,  for  it 
must  be  destroyed.  Bid  he  died  to  redeem  man.  The  import- 
ance which  we  attach  to  man,  does  not  arise  from  the  organi- 
zation of  his  mortal  frame,  though  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made,  but  from  the  deathless  spirit  with  which  that  frame  is 
animated.  Destruction  seems  to  be  the  order  of  the  present 
system,  and  whatever  does  not  belong  to  man  as  an  heir  of 
eternity,  seems  to  be  made  only  to  be  destroyed.  The  riches 
of  individuals  and  the  wealth  of  nations,  make  to  themselves 
wings  and  fly  away;  the  race  of  earthly  glory  is  soon  run,  and 
heroes  have  sighed  for  other  worlds  to  conquer.  The  pleasures 
of  sin  are   but  for  a  season,  and  they  leave  a  sting  behind, 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  85 

loaded  witli  deadly  poison;  youth  is  but  a  dew-drop  of  the 
morning,  which  the  rising  sun  exhales;  beauty  is  but  a  super- 
ficial tincture  thrown  upon  the  skin,  which  a  fit  of  sickness 
washes  away;  health,  strength,  agility,  and  whatever  depends 
upon  the  body,  is  peculiarly  precarious;  and  what  is  life  itself, 
the  foundation  of  all  earthly  enjoyment,  but  a  vapour,  which 
appeareth  but  a  moment,  and  is  destroyed  by  the  next  rough 
blast.  States  and.  empires  have  their  day  like  mortal  man; 
they  rise  in  grandeur,  and  sink  in  ruins,  under  the  smiles  or 
frowns  of  the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth;  the  heavens  them- 
selves shall  be  folded  up  as  a  moth-frctten  garment,  and  shall 
be  changed;  and  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away  with  an  ex- 
ceeding great  noise;  but  the  spirit  that  is  in  man  shall  survive 
the  mighty  wreck,  and  when  as  many  millions  of  ages  have 
passed  off,  as  there  are  grains  of  sand  upon  the  shores  of  the 
ocean,  it  will  be  no  nearer  to  its  end  than  it  was  the  moment 
its  existence  commenced.  As  there  will  be  no  end  of  its  being, 
there  will  be  no  termination  of  that  happiness  or  misery,  to 
which  it  will  be  consigned  in  the  article  of  dissolution;  and, 
before  the  body  is  committed  to  the  grave,  earth  to  earth, 
ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust;  the  conscious  spirit  will  be  exalted 
to  the  joys  of  heaven,  or  condemned  to  the  torments  of  hell 
to  all  eternity.  For  such  a  being,  God  only  can  be  an  ade- 
quate portion,  and  to  redeem  the  soul  to  God,  Jesus  died. 
Awake,  then,  oh  man!  to  serious  reflection.  Forget  not, 
amidst  the  concussions  of  nations,  thy  own  dignity  as  an  heir 
of  immortality.  Ponder  the  momentous  interrogation  of  the 
Creator  of  the  world,  the  Redeemer  of  man,  and  the  Prince 
of  the  kings  of  the  earth, — "What  shall  a  man  be  profited,  if 
he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  o-wn  soul."  It  is  the 
inost  concerning  enquiry  that  can  engage  or  absolve  the  atten- 
tion of  a  being,  passing  through  the  shadows  of  time  to  the 
dread  realities  of  an  eternal  world.  It  admits  only  of  one 
answer,  yet  that  answer  is  seldom  given,  but  with  reluctance, 
uneasiness,  and  conscious  guilt,  liut  any  man  who  shrinks 
from  the  enquiry,  and  who  is  afraid  to  meet  it  in  all  its  por- 
tentous importance,  is  really  in  the  dark,  as  to  the  real  causes 
of  the  evils  of  the  times,  and  of  the  means  of  escaping  the 
danger.  But  he  who  honestly  follows  out  the  awakening 
question  in  all  its  bearings,  will  soon  discover  that  our  national 
peril  arises  from  our  guilt  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  that  there 
is  no  avenue  of  deliverance,  without  repentance  towards  God, 
and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Son  of  God 
is  now  saving  to  us,  in  his  word,  and  by  the  administration  of 
his  Providence,  "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."  But  the  annunciation  damps  our  spirits,  and  throws 
VOL.  II. — 37 


QQ  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

a  gloom  around  us;  and  we  are  more  ready  to  cry  out,  "Art 
thou  come  to  torment  us  before  the  time?"  than  to  say,  "Jesus, 
thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  us." 

How  awful  is  the  state,  how  impious  the  character,  of  modern 
Infidels.  Their  eyes  are  shut,  their  ears  are  closed,  and  their 
hearts  they  have  hardened,  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes, 
and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  hearts,  and 
be  converted,  and  God  should  save  them.  No  wonder  that 
they  charge  the  students  of  prophecy  with  insanity,  or  that 
they  brand  their  monitors  with  the  epitliets  of  fools,  fanatics, 
and  madmen,  as  the  Infidels  before  the  flood  did  the  preacher 
of  righteousness,  during  the  120  years  while  the  ark  was  pre- 
paring, and  the  aspect  of  things  seemed  to  afford  them  some 
plausible  pretext  for  their  impious  scorn  and  raillery.  The 
sun  rose  and  set  as  usual;  the  rain  descended  at  proper  times, 
and  in  moderate  degrees;  the  seasons  rolled, on;  fruits  of  the 
earth  were  ripened  and  gathered  in;  and  it  does  not  appear 
that  a  single  prognostic  was  seen  to  announce  the  coming 
storm.  The  faith  of  Noah,  therefore,  appeared  to  them  as  the 
credulity  of  imbecility;  his  ministry  as  the  ravings  of  mental 
aberration;  and  his  labour,  expense,  and  all  his  contrivances, 
in  the  building  of  the  ark,  as  the  climax  of  religious  infatua- 
tion. "Divine  justice,"  says  an  ancient  writer,  ''has  leaden 
feet,  but  iron  hands;  its  march  to  vengeance  is  slow,  but  its 
executions  are  terrible.'"  The  patience  of  God  was  at  length 
exhausted;  the  hour  of  vengeance  came;  Noah  entered  into 
the  ark;  God  shut  him  in,  and  all  was  over.  When  they  saw 
the  cataracts  from  above  meeting  the  torrents  rushing  from  the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep  beneath,  and  the  raging  billows  of 
a  boundless  ocean,  amidst  the  wild  uproar  of  nature,  rising 
above  the  summits  of  the  highest  mountains,  to  wliich  they 
had  climbed  for  safety;  how  bitterly  did  they  condemn  the 
madness  of  their  infidelity,  and  how  gladly  would  they  have 
stepped  into  some  ark  of  salvation.  Similar  to  this  was  the 
terror  and  the  desperation  of  the  Infidels  of  Sodom,  when  Lot 
was  gone,  and  the  flame  of  Sodom  ascended  up  as  a  burning 
furnace  towards  heaven. 

Let  the  Infidel,  therefore,  hear  and  fear,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord;  for  our  God,  who  is  coming  to  take  vengeance,  is  a  con- 
suming fire.  Let  him  no  longer  set  his  mouth  in  blasphemy 
against  the  heavens,  nor  contemn  the  authority  of  the  King  of 
Zion,  saying,  "Come,  let  us  break  their  bands  asunder,  and 
let  us  cast  away  their  cords  from  us."  "He  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh;  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision;  he 
shall  speak  to  them  in  his  wrath,  and  vex  them  in  his  sore 
displeasure;  when  he  breaks  the  unbelieving  nations  in  pieces 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  87 

with  a  rod  of  iron,  like  a  potter's  vessel."  All  thy  impious 
cavils  against  the  gospel,  and  all  thy  blasphemous  sophistries, 
which  have  been  answered  a  thousand  times,  will  stand  thee  in 
no  stead  on  that  day.  Hast  thou  pondered,  and  canst  thou 
now  ponder,  without  irritation,  the  awful  sanctions  by  which 
the  claims  of  the  gospel,  which  thou  despisest,  are  guarded 
and  enforced, — "He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
These  words  proceeded  from  the  lips  of  the  compassionate 
Saviour;  they  pronounce  tliy  doom;  but  who  can  explain  the 
import  of  the  word  damnation?  lie  that  believeth  not  is  con- 
demned already,  and  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  upon  him: — 
these  words  proceeded  from  the  lips  of  the  illustrious  harbinger 
of  the  compassionate  Saviour;  but  who  knoweth  the  power  of 
God's  wrath?  Yet,  on  thee,  0  man,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth: 
— in  sickness  or  in  health,  at  home  or  abroad,  sleeping  or 
waking,  in  war  or  peace,  amidst  the  stability  or  the  crash  of 
nations,  in  life  and  in  death,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  upon 
thee;  and,  dying  in  thy  infidelity  and  guilt,  it  will  plunge  thee 
into  everlasting  perdition.  Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God?  Canst 
thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like  his?  Canst  thou  bear  the 
weight  of  his  vengeance?  When  he  arises  to  punish,  who 
shall  attempt  to  rescue?  "How  will  thine  hands  be  strong,  or 
thine  heart  endure,  in  the  day  when  he  shall  deal  with  thee. 
He  will  do  it,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 
Whom  his  grace  does  not  subdue,  his  vengeance  will  over- 
whelm. He  shall  reigu  until  all  his  enemies  are  made  his 
footstool,  and  all  who  refuse  to  bow  to  the  sceptre  of  his  love, 
shall  be  broken  in  pieces  with  his  rod  of  iron.  Oh!  then,  let 
me  beseech  you,  by  the  tender  mercies  of  God,  and  by  the 
compassion  of  a  dying  Saviour;  by  the  terrors  of  the  law,  and 
by  the  grace  of  the  gospel;  by  the  worth  of  your  own  souls, 
and  the  immense  importance  of  eternal  things;  by  the  wrath 
that  is  coming  upon  the  nations;  by  the  joys  of  heaven,  and 
by  the  sorrows  of  hell;  by  every  thing  that  is  tender,  and 
every  thing  that  is  awful, — let  me  beseech  you  to  kiss  the  Son, 
to  bow  to  the  sceptre  of  his  kingdom,  lest  ye  perish  from  the 
way,  when  his  anger  is  kindled  but  a  little, — yes,  but  a  little; 
a  single  spark  would  prove  sufficient  to  consume  all  nations, 
and  to  burn  down  to  the  lowest  hell. 

Let  the  unbeliever,  who  makes  a  profession  of  Christianity, 
tremble,  when  he  reads  the  denunciation  of  God's  wrath, 
speedily  to  be  inflicted  on  guilty  nations!  Time  is  passing  off; 
eternity  is  pressing  forward;  the  judge  is  at  the  door.  The 
contemplation  of  such  calamities,  ai)out  to  overtake  and  over- 
whelm a  secure,  though  guilty  world,  is  enough  to  melt  the 
hardest  heart  into  compassion.     "Look  away  from  me,"  said 


gg  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

the  prophet,  "I  will  weep  bitterly;  labour  not  to  comfort  me, 
because  of  the  spoiling  of  the  daughter  of  my  people;  for  it 
is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  treading  down,  and  of  perplexity, 
by  the  Lord  God  of  hosts,  in  the  valley  of  vision."  Will  a 
lion  roar  in  the  forest,  when  he  has  no  prey?  Will  a  young 
lion  cry  in  his  den,  if  he  has  taken  nothing?  Can  a  bird  fall 
into  a  snare  upon  the  earth,  where  no  gin  is  laid  for  him? 
Shall  a  trumpet  be  blown  in  the  city,  and  the  people  not  be 
afraid?  Shall  there  be  evil  in  the  city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not 
done  it?  The  lion  hath  roared,  who  will  not  fear?  The  Lord 
God  hath  spoken,  who  can  but  prophesy?  Truly  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Why,  then, 
will  men  rest  in  forms  of  godliness,  while  destitute  of  its  vital 
saving  power?  Remember  the  fate  of  the  foolish  virgins.  A 
lamp  of  profession,  v/ithout  the  oil  and  flame  of  grace,  may 
carry  you  to  the  gates  of  heaven,  but  will  leave  you  there; 
they  that  were  ready  went  into  the  marriage,  and  the  door  was 
shut.  Why  will  the  wicked  refuse  to  forsake  his  way,  and 
the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts?  It  is  yet  the  accepted  time, 
and  the  day  of  salvation.  "Let  him,  therefore,  return  to  the 
Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for 
he  will  abundantly  pardon."  Why  should  he  delay  in  apply- 
ing to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  until  compelled,  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  unavailing  remorse,  to  exclaim,  "The  harvest  is  past, 
the  summer  is  ended,  ^nd  we  are  not  saved?"  Let  him  betake 
himself  without  delay,  to  him  who  alone  shall  be  a  covert 
from  the  storm,  and  a  hiding-place  from  the  tempest.  Then 
will  the  Lord  hide  him  in  the  secret  place  of  his  pavilion. 
The  place  of  his  defence  shall  be  the  munition  of  rocks; 
though  thousands  fall  at  his  side,  and  ten  thousand  at  his  right 
hand,  no  evil  shall  befall  him,  neither  shall  any  plague  come 
nigh  his  dwelling.  The  Lord  shall  give  his  angels — the 
ministers  of  his  providence, — charge  over  him,  to  keep  him  in 
all  his  ways.  Consider,  then,  0  unbelieving  man,  the  situa- 
tion in  which  thou  art  placed.  Before  thee  lies  eternity, — 
eternal  happiness,  or  eternal  woe.  A  sinner,  both  by  nature 
and  by  practice,  thou  art  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the 
vengeance  of  eternal  fire.  Thy  unbelief  has  added  to  the 
national  guilt,  in  the  rejection  of  the  gospel.  The  vengeance 
of  heaven  hangs  over  thy  head;  the  sword  of  the  avenger  is 
tracking  thy  guilty  steps;  the  storms  of  wrath  are  gathering 
around  thee;  hell  from  beneath  is  moved  to  meet  thee  at  thy 
coming;  and  before  thee  lies  the  atonement  of  a  Saviour's 
blood,  as  thy  place  of  safety;  listen,  then,  to  the  warning  voice 
of  prophets  and  of  apostles,  and  of  the  Son  of  God  himself, 
who  saith,  "Flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  to  the  hope  set 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  gg 

before  thee  in  the  gospel,  and  stay  not  in  all  the  plain  lest  thou 
be  consumed." 

The  devoted  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  may  be  admonish- 
ed to  holy  vigilance  and  guarded  circumspection.  While  they 
rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  meeting  with  the  great  God, 
even  their  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  for  now  is  their  salvation 
nearer  than  when  they  believed;  yet  they  ought  to  rejoice 
with  trembling.  The  state  of  the  church  demands  their  fervent 
and  persevering  prayers;  the  opposition  made  to  the  truth  by 
friends  and  brethren  may  occasion  pungent  sorrow;  and  the 
objects  of  impending  judgment  call  for  their  deepest  commise- 
ration. True  patriotism  and  loyalty,  attachment  to  their  right- 
ful sovereign,  and  deep  concern  for  the  safety  of  their  beloved 
country,  are  sentiments  which  ought,  especially  at  this  crisis, 
to  rule  and  reign  in  their  heart.  There  is,  too,  in  the  dangers 
to  which  they  are  themselves  exposed,  ground  of  fear  and 
humility,  of  godly  jealousy  and  constant  vigilance.  These 
are,  indeed,  perilous  times  in  which  our  lot  is  cast.  Seducing 
spirits  are  abroad;  of  whose  wiles  they  ought  to  take  heed. 
The  present  aspects  of  societ}'  are  ominous.  Infidelity, 
worldliness,  a  disrelish  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation, 
or  the  Apostolic  doctrine,  latitudinarianism  of  principle,  and 
indifference  to  spiritual  things,  have  increased,  and  are  still 
increasing,  in  the  professing  Christian  church.  We  have  not 
faith,  even  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed;  for  no  mountains  of 
difficulties  are  removed  by  us  in  the  present  day.  We  boast 
of  our  liberality,  regarding  it  as  a  high  attainment,  although, 
in  numberless  cases,  it  is  only  another  name  for  licentiousness. 
We  characterize  the  age  as  enlightened;  but  where  is  there 
that  ardent  desire,  and  fervent  prayer  for  the  illumination  of 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  by  which  our  pious  forefathers  were  so 
eminently  distinguished?  Intellect,  as  it  is  called,  but  very 
unworthy  of  the  name,  has  usurped  the  seat  of  the  faith  that 
accompanies  salvation;  and  unbelief  is  displayed  in  a  thousand 
various  forms,  and  in  every  form  still  retains  its  essential 
character  of  opposition  to  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It  is 
therefore  of  the  utmost  importance  that  we  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  sin  of  unbelief, — the  sin  which  does  so  easily  beset 
us, — locking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith. 
"Take  heed,  brethren,"  says  the  Apostle,  in  his  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  while  ruin  was  hanging  over  the  nation,  "lest  there 
be  in  any  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  apostatizing  from 
the  living  God."  Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  for  your  adversaries 
are  going  about  like  roaring  lions,  seeking  whom  they  may 
devour;  whom  resist,  steadfast  in  the  faith.  Hold  fast  that 
which  ye  have  received;  let  no  man  take  away  your  crown 
37^ 


9Q  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

from  you;  walk  circumspectly,  not  as  fools,  but  as  wise,  re- 
deeming the  time,  knowing  that  the  days  are  evil.  Beware 
lest  the  enemy  find  you  off  your  guard,  or  lull  to  sleep  that 
guarded  circumspection  which  ought  always  be  kept  awake. 
Ye  wrestle  not  only  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  with  principali- 
ties and  powers,  with  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  tliis  world, 
and  with  wicked  spirits  in  high  places;  and  the  contest  is  now 
raging  with  fierce  and  unexampled  violence.  Wherefore,  take 
to  yourselves  the  wliole  armour  of  God;  the  helmet  of  salva- 
tion, the  breast-plate  of  righteousness,  the  girdle  of  truth,  the 
shield  of  faith — whereby  ye  may  be  able  to  quench  all  the 
fiery  darts  of  the  wicked;  the  sword  of  the  Spirit — which  is 
the  word  of  God,  and  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace; 
praying  always,  with  all  prayer  and  supplication;  watching 
thereunto  with  all  perseverance,  being  strong  in  the  Lord,  and 
in  the  power  of  his  might.  Watch  ye,  therefore,  put  off  the 
works  of  darkness,  stand  in  the  attitude  of  expectation,  and 
pray  always;  "forasmuch  as  ye  knovv^  neither  the  day  nor  the 
hour  wherein  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  that  ye  may  be  account- 
ed worthy  to  escape  all  these  tilings  that  shall  come  to  pass, 
and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  Man." 

Mutual  exhortation,  and  mutual  admonition,  among  the 
brethren,  in  times  like  these,  are  especially  necessary.  When 
Cain  had  slain  his  brother  Abel,  a  voice  from  heaven  demand- 
ed of  him,  ''Where  i's  Abel,  thy  brother?"  To  this  solemn 
and  conscience-awakening  interrogation,  the  unhappy  fratricide 
sullenly  replied,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  Certainly,  it 
miglit  have  been  retorted,  as  his  elder  brother,  thou  wast  his 
natural  guardian;  at  least,  thou  oughtest  not  to  have  been  his 
murderer.  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth  out  from 
the  earth  unto  me  against  thee:  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt 
thou  be  in  all  the  earth,  bearing  on  thy  brow  the  mark  of  my 
holy  indignation.  There  is,  my  brethren,  a  reciprocity  of 
deep  and  awful  responsibility,  existing  between  husbands  and 
wives,  parents  and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  and  all  the 
relations  of  life,  but  especially  among  the  members  of  the 
household  of  faith,  in  reference  to  a  future  judgment  and  an 
eternal  world.  Every  man,  in  this  sense,  is  appointed  his 
brother's  keeper.  Every  man  is  charged  to  watch  over  the 
soul  of  his  brother,  as  one  that  must  give  an  account.  What 
a  solemn  deposit!  Wiiat  a  charge  to  Toe  entrusted  to  one  man 
over  another!  Whataweiglit  of  responsibility  does  it  involve! 
Who  does  not  shrink,  with  fear  and  trembling,  from  the  pros- 
pect of  appearing  before  tiie  divine  tribunal,  charged,  in  this 
respect,  with  blood-guiltiness?  Yet  who  can  lay  his  hand  upon 
his  heart,  and  sa^,  with  the  great  apostle,  when  resigning  his 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  Ql 

charge  over  the  church  at  jNIiletus,  ''I  take  heaven  and  earth 
to  record  this  day,  that  I  am  pure  from  the  hlood  of  all  men; 
for  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God?" 
Where  is  that  tender  anxiety,  that  travailing  in  hirth,  as  the 
apostle  expresses  it,  for  men,  until  Christ  he  formed  in  them 
the  hope  of  glory?  Where  is  that  brotherly  love,  that  careful 
watchfulness  over  each  other's  spiritual  interest,  that  fidelity 
of  aflcctionate  reproof,  that  fervency  of  prayer  for  each  other, 
and  that  bearing  of  each  other's  burthens,  which  are  so  re- 
peatedly and  solemnly  enjoined  by  the  law  of  Christ?  JNIay 
we  not  all  acknowledge,  with  grief  and  contrition  of  spirit, 
that  we  are  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother?  for  that 
when  we  saw  his  anguish,  and  besought  us  with  tears,  and  we 
would  not  hearken;  therefore,  is  this  evil  come  upon  us.  Let  us 
not  forget  that  we  must  meet  our  brother  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ;  and,  oh!  most  holy,  most  merciful,  most 
mighty,  and  most  w^orthy  Judge  eternal,  grant  that  we  may 
all  find  mercy  in  that  day!  But  he  that  confesseth,  and  for- 
saketh  his  sins,  saith  the  Lord,  shall  obtain  mercy.  While, 
therefore,  we  repent  and  confess,  may  our  repentance  and  con- 
fession be  followed  by  reformation;  and  let  us  listen  to  the 
apostolical  exhortations  which  are  so  often  repeated,  and  so 
earnestly  pressed  upon  our  attention.  Instruct,  reprove,  and 
admonish  one  another;  provoke  one  another  to  love  and  good 
works;  strengthen  the  weak,  support  the  feeble-minded,  bear 
ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ;  con- 
fess your  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  for  one  another. 
Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are 
spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  con- 
sidering thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted.  Exhort  one  another 
daily,  lest  ye  be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin. 
Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do^err  from  the  truth,  and  one  convert 
him,  let  him  know  that  he  which  converteth  the  sinner  from 
the  error  of  his  way,  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall 
hide  a  multitude  of  sins.  If  such  admonitory  exhortations 
demand  the  attention  of  the  Christian  church,  at  all  times,  with 
what  mighty  force  do  they  press  on  our  attention  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  church,  of  the  nation,  and  of  the  w^orld.  We 
have  before  observed  that  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was 
written  by  St.  Paul,  to  his  countrymen  professing  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  only  a  few  years  before  the  overthrow  of  their 
church  and  nation.  And  it  is  by  the  consideration  of  the  near 
approach  of  that  event,  that  he  urged  these  and  similar  exhor- 
tations:— "and  so  much  the  more,"  says  he,  "as  ye  see  the 
day  approaching." 

The  study  of  the  prophetical  scriptures,  in  comparison  with 


92  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

the  operations  of  Providence,  or  the  signs  of  the  times,  is  also 
an  imperative  duty.  Despise  not  prophesying,  is  a  divine  ad- 
monition. We  have  a  sure  word  of  prophecy,  to  which,  says 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  ye  will  do  well  to  take  heed,  with  fixed 
attention,  holy  reverence,  and  fervent  prayer,  as  unto  a  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place.  One  grand  and  sublime  system  of 
prophecy  runs  through  the  whole  of  the  sacred  volume.  Every 
promise  is  a  prophecy  of  future  good;  every  denunciation  is  a 
prophecy  of  future  evil,  whether  to  individuals  or  communi- 
ties. The  whole  patriarchal  and  Mosaic  ritual,  its  altars,  its 
oblations,  its  priests,  its  tabernacles,  its  sprinklings  and  purifi- 
cations, and  all  its  patterns  of  heavenly  things,  were  predictive 
as  well  as  typical.  The  whole  scripture  partakes  of  the  nature 
of  prophecy,  either  predicting  future  events,  or  recording  their 
accomplishment  in  sacred  history;  while  doctrines,  precepts, 
and  the  minuter  parts  of  the  holy  book  are  .interspersed  and 
interwoven  with  what  may  be  called  the  prophetical  substratum 
of  the  holy  oracles  of  God.  When  our  Lord  commanded  the 
Jews  to  search  the  Scriptures,  he  meant  the  prophecies,  for 
they  are  they  which  testified  of  him.  The  men  of  Berea  were 
more  honourable  than  those  of  Thessalonica,  because  they 
searched  the  scriptures  daily, — the  prophetical  scriptures, — to 
see  whether  the  things  spoken  of  by  the  apostle  were  so  or  not. 
Indeed,  scripture  and  prophecy  are  convertible  terms,  or  ex- 
pressions of  precisely  the  same  signification.  To  despise  pro- 
phecy is,  therefore,  to  offer  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace;  to 
neglect  the  study  of  prophecy  is  to  pour  contempt  on  the  word 
of  God.  Remember  that  an  unity  of  design,  and  a  continuity 
of  thought,  worthy  of  that  infinite  Intelligence  to  whom  a 
thousand  j^ears  are  as  one  day,  characterizes  the  sacred  volume; 
that  redemption  is  the  grand  theme,  and  that  the  final  triumph 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  arrayed  in  all  the  beauties  of 
holiness,  in  the  universal  establishment  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  and  the  brightest  display  of  the  glory  of  God,  is  the 
ultimate  end  and  blessed  consummation.  To  the  want  of  a 
due  attention  to  this  principle,  it  is  owing  that  passages  are  so 
often  mangled  by  being  torn  from  their  connection,  that  their 
beautiful  symmetry  is  mutilated,  and  the  majesty  of  the  word 
of  God  destroyed;  that  Infidel  cavils  are  engendered,  and  that 
numberless  prophecies,  which  are  already  fulfilled,  are  wrapt 
in  impenetrable  obscurity;  and  that  the  Holy  Book  is  in  a 
great  measure,  even  to  the  church,  closed  up,  and  sealed. 
With  regard  to  unfulfilled  prophecy,  even  the  most  mysterious, 
that  they  may  be  understood  before  their  accomplishment  is 
clear,  from  the  well-known  fact,  among  many  others,  that 
Daniel's  famous  numerical  prophecy,  one  of  the  most  mys- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  93 

terious  in  the  Bible,  concerning  the  JNTessiah's  first  advent,  was 
so  well  understood,  that  at  the  time  of  his  coming,  an  eager 
expectation  of  his  appearance  universally  prevailed.  Of  the 
events  predicted  in  what  are  supposed  to  be  the  mysterious 
prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  which  are  to  take  place  in  the  latter 
days,  it  is  expressly  said,  that  at  the  time  of  the  end,  the  wise 
shall  understand  them,  but  the  wicked  shall  not  understand 
them.  And  the  Son  of  God  himself,  in  his  introduction  to 
the  mysterious  book  of  Revelation,  pronounces  a  blessing  upon 
the  man  who  readeth  and  upon  tliose  who  hear  the  prophecies 
of  this  book,  and  do  the  things  that  are  contained  in  them. 
Regardless  of  the  stupid  and  infidel  clamour  that  you  hear 
around  you,  search  the  prophecies;  take  heed  unto  that  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place,  and  follow  the  example  of  the  pro- 
phets, who  inquired  and  searched  diligently,  that  they  might 
know  what  things  and  what  manner  of  times  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  that  was  in  them  did  signify.  With  the  searching  of 
the  scriptures  combine  a  holy  watchfulness  of  the  operations 
of  Divine  Providence. 

How  severely  did  our  Lord  reprove  the  Jews  for  their  wilful 
blindness  in  not  discerning  the  signs  of  the  times  in  his  day: 
— "When  ye  see  a  cloud  rise  out  of  the  west,  ye  say,  there 
Cometh  a  shower,  and  so  it  is;  and  when  ye  see  the  south 
wind  blow,  ye  say,  there  will  be  heat,  and  it  cometh  to  pass; 
ye  hypocrites,  ye  can  discern  the  face  of  the  sky  and  the  earth; 
how  is  it  that  yc  do  not  discern  this  time?"  A  reproof  which 
certainly  implied,  that  had  they  compared  the  signs  of  the 
times  with  the  sacred  prophecies,  they  would  have  known 
that  he  was  the  Messiah.  Again,  had  not  his  disciples  after- 
wards marked,  and  understood  the  signs,  which  he  had  given 
them,  of  the  near  approach  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
how  could  they  have  fled  to^  the  mountains  for  safety,  in  obe- 
dience to  his  command?  And  again,  when  describing  the 
signs,  which  shall  immediately  precede  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  and  the  restitution  of  all  things  at  his  second  coming, 
he  says, — and  the  admonition  was  especially  intended  for  the 
church  in  the  latter  days, — ^'ivheti  ye  see  these  thitigs  begi?i  to  come 
to  pass,  then  lift  up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption  draws 
nigh."  In  the  book  of  Revelation,  when  the  entranced  pro- 
phet, rapt  in  the  visions  of  the  Almighty,  beholds  the  vials 
emptied  in  succession  upon  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and. the 
rivers  and  fountains  of  waters,  on  the  sun,  and  the  seat  of  the 
beast,  and  the  great  river  Euphrates;  during  the  last  of  which, 
a  way  is  prepared  for  the  return  of  the  Jews,  and  the  spirits  of 
devils  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  whole 
world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God 


94  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

Almighty;  and  only  a  short  time  before  the  seventh  angel 
pours  out  his  vial  into  the  air;  and  a  great  voice  comes  out  of 
the  temple  of  heaven,  from  the  throne,  saying, — it  is  done; 
when  immediately  all  nations  will  be  shaken  and  convulsed, 
and  Great  Babylon  comes  up  in  remembrance  before  God; — at 
this  momentous  crisis,  the  prophet  hears  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God,  interrupting  the  process  of  the  prophetical  scenery,  and 
thus  addressing  the  church,  existing  in  this  awful  interval,  that 
is,  the  present  period,  and  saying,  "Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief, 
suddenly,  in  an  hour  when  I  am  not  expected;  lift  up  your 
eyes,  regard  with  deep  and  devout  attention  those  i.idications 
which  announce  my  coming,  for  blessed  is  he  who  thus  watch- 
eth  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and  they 
see  his  shame.  He  shall  be  preserved  in  the  midst  of  those 
calamities,  which  shall  overwhelm  the  wicked.  A  place  of 
safety  shall  be  opened  unto  him  in  the  day  of  trouble;  he  shall 
enter  into  the  chambers,  close  the  doors  upon  him,  and  there 
be  protected  under  the  shadow  of  my  wing,  until  the  indigna- 
tion be  accomplislied."  Such  is  the  blessedness  promised  to 
the  watchful  Christian  at  this  crisis. 

Loyalty,  patriotism,  submission  to  the  powers  that  be,  and 
a  separation  from  the  collision  of  all  political  parties,  are  in- 
cumbent duties  of  the  devoted  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  at 
this  crisis.  While  the  ancient  prophets,  in  their  official  cha- 
racters, lifted  up  their  voices,  like  trumpets,  against  the  trans- 
gression of  the  people,  and  the  times,  and  denounced  the  wrath 
of  God  against  kings  and  nations;  still,  as  subjects  of  the  state, 
they  submitted  to  the  higher  powers,  even  to  imprisonment 
and  martyrdom.  This  is  the  spirit  which  Christianity  incul- 
cates upon  the  subjects  of  Him,  whose  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world,  in  every  page.  Fear  God,  and  honour  the  king,  is  an 
express  command,  that  cannot  be  misunderstood,  and  admits  of 
no  evasion.  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers; 
for  there  is  no  power  but  of  God;  the  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God.  Whosoever  resisteth  the  power,  resisteth 
the  ordinance  of  God;  for  this  cause  pay  you  tribute  also: — 
Render,  therefore,  to  all  their  dues;  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is 
due;  custom  to  whom  custom;  fear  to  whom  fear;  honour  to 
whom  honour.  Stand  aloof  from  party  conflict;  link  not  your- 
selves with  the  Infidels  of  the  age;  for  what  communion  has 
light  with  darkness;  what  concord  has  Christ  with  Belial;  or 
he  that  believcth  with  an  Infidel?  Flee  the  precincts  of  in- 
fection; maintain  a  holy  singularity  for  God;  bear  an  honest 
testimony  against  the  evils  of  the  day;  but  let  it  be  in  the 
spirit  of  your  divine  Master,  who  was  holy,  and  harmless,  and 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners;  who  was  led  as  a  lamb 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE,  95 

to  the  slaughter,  meek  and  uncomplaining,  and  marking  the 
way  with  blood;  who  besought  the  weeping  dauglUers  of  Jeru- 
salem not  to  weep  for  him,  but  for  the  calamities  that  were 
coming  upon  the  nation;  and  who  spent  his  last  breath  in 
prayers  and  apologies  for  his  Infidel  murderers.  By  exempli- 
fying such  a  spirit,  you  will  most  cflectually  advance  the  good 
of  your  country,  and  the  triumpli  of  your  Redeemer's  king- 
dom. Love  is  omnipotent,  and  by  the  mighty  power  of  the 
spirit  of  love,  the  apostolic  church  achieved  all  its  glorious 
conquests.  And  the  Christian  church,  during  a  considerable 
period  after  the  apostolic  age,  acted  upon  the  same  holy  prin- 
ciple, and  displayed  the  same  lovely  spirit.  These  principles 
are  embodied,  and  this  spirit  animates  Tertullian's  famous 
apology,  addressed  to  the  Emperor  and  Roman  senate.  After 
mentioning  the  numbers,  talents,  wealth,  and  influence  of 
Christians,  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire,  from  which  the 
senate  might  have  inferred  the  formidable  resistance  which 
they  might  offer,  even  to  the  government;  and,  as  some  sup- 
pose, shake  even  the  foundations  of  the  empire:  he  then  adds, 
with  an  address  peculiar  to  himself,  in  words  to  this  effect: — 
"But  our  master  is  the  Prince  of  Peace;  he  disarms  his  fol- 
lowers, that  they  may  conquer;  he  arrests  the  spear  from  the 
hand  of  Ephraim;  strikes  the  battle-bow  from  the  hand  of 
Judah;  and  throws  the  warlike  chariot  into  the  fire.  You 
send  us  to  the  mines  and  gallies;  we  go,  after  the  example  of 
the  fathers  of  our  faith,  not  knowing  whither  we  go; — you 
plunder  us  of  our  possessions,  and  reduce  us  from  wealth  or 
competence,  to  want  and  beggary,  but  we  suffer  the  spoiling 
of  our  goods  joyfully,  knowing  that  in  heaven  we  have  a  better 
and  a  more  enduring  substance; — you  expose  us  on  your  pub- 
lic theatres,  to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts,  as  the  ofTscour- 
ing  of  all  things,  but  we  mur;nur  not;  you  nail  us  to  the  cross, 
in  this  we  glory,  for  thus  our  master  suffered; — you  consign 
us  to  the  darkness  and  the  stench  of  dungeons,  but  we  return 
good  for  evil,  blessing  for  cursing,  and  kindness  for  insults, 
injuries,  and  cruelties.  These  are  the  weapons  by  which  we 
fight;  and  be  it  known  unto  you,  0  ye  rulers  of  the  earth, 
that  by  these  weapons  we  shall  overcome."  Gibbon,  Voltaire, 
and  other  Infidel  historians,  condemn  this  spirit  as  mean  and 
pusillanimous,  which  they  ascribe  to  the  degrading  genius  of 
Christianity.  But  happy  would  it  have  been  for  the  world, 
and  the  church,  had  she  always  been  animated  by  this  spirit. 
Here  is  true  dignity, — here  is  genuine  heroism: — 

"The  passive  hero,  that  sits  down  inactive, 
And  smiles  beneath  aflliction's  galling  yoke, 
Oiudoes  a  Caesar's  toil." 


96  THE  DESTINIES  OP 

Witness  the  gentleness,  the  sweetness  of  temper,  the  placid 
dignity,  with  which  the  first  martyrs  endured  the  severest 
torments,  which  struck  their  tormentors  with  astonishment, 
and  often  proved  the  means  of  converting  them  to  the  faith 
which  they  persecuted.  Let  us  be  careful  to  maintain  and 
exemplify  this  spirit  at  the  present  crisis. 

Whatever  may  be  the  conduct  of  our  rulers,  or  the  nation 
at  large;  whatever  hardness  of  heart,  impenitence,  and  insen- 
sibility to  impending  judgments,  may  prevail  in  the  world,  or 
in  the  church,  and  whether  a  proclamation  for  a  general  fast 
should  be  issued  from  the  throne  or  not;  it  is  right,  uud  meet, 
and  the  bounden  duty  of  all  real  Christians,  to  weep  in  secret, 
mingling  their  prayers  with  their  tears,  over  the  iniquities, 
and  for  the  calamities,  of  a  guilty  land.  Thus  Jesus  wept  over 
Jerusalem,  and  said,  "Oh,  that  thou  hadst  known,  at  least  in  this 
the  day  of  thy  visitation,  the  things  that  belong  to  thy  peace, 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes."  Permit  me  to  remind 
you  of  the  promise  of  divine  and  signal  protection,  made  to 
the  weeping  remnant,  amidst  imminent  dangers,  and  fearful 
calamities,  which  perhaps,  before-  we  are  aware,  we  may  be 
called  to  witness  in  this  country.  You  will  find  it  recorded 
in  the  third  chapter  of  EzekiePs  prophecy: — "I  looked,"  says 
the  prophet  Ezekiel,  "and  behold,  an  hand  was  stretched  forth 
unto  me,  and  lo,  a  roll  of  parchment  was  therein,  and  he  spread 
it  before  me,  and  it  whs  written  within  and  without;  and  there 
was  written  therein  lamentation,  and  mourning,  and  woe. 
Then  said  he  unto  me,  hast  thou  read  this,  0  son  of  man?  Is 
it  a  light  thing  that  they  have  committed  all  these  abomina- 
tions, and  filled  the  land  with  violence,  and  have  returned  to 
provoke  me  to  anger?  Therefore,  will  I  deal  in  fury:  my  eye 
shall  not  spare,  neither  will  I  have  pity;  and  though  they  may 
cry  in  my  ear  with  a  loud  voice,  yet  will  I  not  hear  them. 
He  cried  also  in  mine  ears  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  cause 
them  that  have  the  charge  over  the  city  to  draw  near,  every 
man  with  a  destroying  weapon  in  his  hand.  And,  behold, 
six  men  came  from  the  way  of  the  higher  gate,  which  lieth 
towards  the  north  side  of  the  city,  and  every  man  a  slaughter- 
weapon  in  his  hand;  and  one  man  among  them  was  clothed 
with  linen,  with  a  writer's  ink-horn  by  his  side;  and  they 
went  in,  and  stood  by  the  side  of  the  brazen  altar.  And  the 
glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  was  gone  up  from  the  cherub, 
whereupon  he  was,  to  the  threshold  of  tlic  house.  And  he 
called  to  the  man  clothed  with  linen,  which  had  the  writer's 
ink-horn  by  his  side,  and  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  go  through 
the  midst  of  the  city,  and  set  a  mark  upon  the  foreheads  of 
the  men  that  sigh,  and  that  cry,  for  all  the  abominations  that 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  97 

are  done  in  the  midst  thereof.  And  to  tlie  others  he  said,  in 
mine  hearing,  go  yc  after  him  tiirougli  the  city,  and  smite: 
let  not  your  eyes  spare,  neither  have  ye  pity,  but  come  not 
near  any  one  upon  whom  is  the  mark;  and  begin  at  my  sanc- 
tuary. And  it  came  to  pass,  while  they  were  slaying,  and  I 
was  left,  that  I  fell  upon  my  face,  and  cried,  and  said.  Ah, 
Lord  God!  wilt  thou  destroy  all  the  residue  of  Israel  in  the 
pouring  out  of  thy  fury  upon  Jerusalem?  Then  said  he  unto 
me,  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel  is  exceeding  great,  the 
land  is  full  of  perverseness;  for  they  say  the  Lord  hath  for- 
saken the  earth,  and  tiie  Lord  seeth  not.  And  as  for  me  also, 
I  will  recompense  their  way  upon  their  head.  And  behold, 
the  man  clothed  with  linen,  which  had  the  ink-horn  by  his 
side,  reported  the  matter,  saying,  I  have  done  as  thou  hast 
commanded  me."  If  such  judgment  were  inflicted  upon  Jeru- 
salem, the  city  of  the  living  God,  what  vengeance  may  we 
not  fear  will  be  executed  upon  London  in  the  day  of  her 
visitation?  if  such  calamities  befell  the  Jewish  nation, 
the  people  of  God,  the  portion  of  his  inheritance,  this 
peculiar  treasure,  what  may  not  be  the  desolation  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation  in  that  day?  and  if  judgment  begin  amongst  us,  as 
it  did  amongst  them,  with  the  house  of  God,  what  shall  be  the 
end  of  those  \vho  obey  not  the  gospel?  But  blessed  are  they 
who  sigh  and  cry  for  the  abominations  that  are  done  in  the 
land;  the  man  with  the  writer's  ink-horn  has  set  upon  them 
the  discriminating  mark  of  divine  protection.  He  who  saved 
Noah  in  the  ark,  when  the  deluge  swept  away  its  apostate 
myriads;  who  set  his  mark  upon  righteous  Lot,  amidst  the 
deep  and  desperate  wickedness  of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  and 
hrought  him  out  of  Sodom  ere  the  fire  was  permitted  to  fall 
from  heaven  and  overwhelm  its  rebellious  multitudes  in  a 
deluge  of  flame;  He  will  hide  them  under  the  shadow  of  his 
wings,  in  the  secret  place  of  his  pavilion,'  and  give  the  minis- 
ters of  his  providence  charge  over  them,  to  keep  them  in  all 
their  ways. 

All  the  faithful  servants  of  God  are  under  obligations,  the 
most  sacred,  at  all  times,  but  especially  at  the  present  crisis, 
to  promote,  by  every  means  in  their  power,  the  interest  of  all 
those  societies  which  characterize  the  age,  and  whose  object  it 
is  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Saviour,  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  Among  these  noble  institutions,  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  holds  her  rank,  as  queen  in  the  gold  of 
Ophir.  Her  throne  is  founded  in  righteousness,  the  sceptre 
of  her  kingdom  is  a  right  sceptre,  and  mercy  and  truth  go 
before  her  face.  _  Learning,  good  sense,  and  piety  are  her 
prime  ministers;  the  mitre,  the  coronet,  and  the  diadem,  while 

VOL.  II.— 3S 


93  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

they  adorn  her  palace,  and  grace  her  court,  derive  from  her 
smiles  a  lustre  which  the  diamond  never  knew,  a  dignity  which 
imperial  grandeur  never  could  confer.  Missionary  Societies, 
Continental  Societies,  Irish  Evangelical  Societies,  Sabbath 
Schools,  and  Jews'  Societies,  are  the  virgins,  her  companions, 
that  follow  in  her  train.  She  unites  all  hearts,  she  throws 
down  all  partition-walls,  and  speaks  with  a  voice  of  majesty 
and  love,  which  will  one  day  be  heard  commanding  all  nations 
to  break  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruning-hooks.  Her  empire  is  the  globe,  her  blessings  extend 
through  immensity,  and  through  eternity.  Next  in  lank  to  the 
Bible  Society  stands  the  whole  body  of  Missionary  Societies, 
of  all  denominations,  whose  object  it  is  to  explain  the  contents 
of  that  charter  of  eternal  blessings,  which  the  Bible  Society 
translates  into  all  languages,  and  sends  to  all  nations.  Next  in 
order  are  the  societies  which  are  formed  for'the  relief,  the  con- 
ciliation, and  the  conversion  of  the  house  of  Israel.  Next  to 
them  in  the  esteem  of  every  Englishman  whose  heart  glows 
with  love  to  his  country,  are  all  those  societies  which  are 
formed  for  the  amelioration  and  spiritual  emancipation  of  poor 
Ireland,  whicli  hangs  as  a  dead  weight  upon  the  empire,  threat- 
ening her  with  convulsions,  agony,  and  death.  Nor  must  we 
forget  the  Continental  Society,  calling  upon  those  who  fear 
God  in  the  Papacy  to  come  out  from  the  midst  of  her.  And 
last,  though  not  the  least,  are  the  Sabbath  Schools,  formed  for 
the  religious  and  moral  improvement  of  the  rising  genei'ation, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  These  are  not  rival,  but  friendly 
powers:  not  hostile  to  each  other,  but  confederate  against  the 
powers  of  darkness  and  sin.  Though  divided  into  various 
battalions,  and  distinguished  by  their  respective  standards,  like 
the  tribes  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  they  are  one  army,  yea, 
one  family.  The  cloud  of  glory  covers  them  all,  the  king  of 
Zion  is  in  the  midst  of  them;  and,  at  his  command,  the  wilder- 
ness shall  be  traversed,  Jordan  shall  be  driven  back,  the  walls 
of  Jericho  shall  fall  down,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
God  of  the  whole  earth  shall  enter  into  the  possession  of  the 
Gentiles.  Why,  then,  should  Ephraim  envy  Judah,  or  Judah 
vex  Ephraim?  Why  should  there  be  any  misunderstanding, 
any  jar  or  collision  of  interests,  or  any  want  of  the  most  per- 
fect union,  good  will,  and  kind  co-operation  among  tliese  ex- 
cellent institutions?  Po  you,  my  friends,  prove,  by  your  si)irit 
and  conduct  to  all,  that  you  arc  the  friends  of  all;  remember- 
ing the  greatness  of  their  object,  and  the  good  that  they  have 
done,  and  may  yet  do,  to  their  country  and  to  the  world. 

Fervent  and  persevering  prayer,  ofl'cred  up  in  steadfast  and 
unwavering  faith  in  the  divine  promise,  for  the  purifying  in- 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  99 

iluence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  this  crisis,  is  the  imperative  duty 
of  all  true  Christians.  I  mean  the  prayer  of  the  heart,  the  in- 
working  prayer,  the  prayer  of  strong  faith;  for  if  a  man 
(loubteth,  he  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  that  is  driven  by  the 
wind,  and  tossed:  let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall  receive 
any  thing  of  the  Lord.  I  mean  the  prayer  of  perseverance  and 
increasing  importunity,  like  that  of  Jacob,  when  wrestling  with 
the  redeeming  angel  of  the  covenant,  and  saying,  0,  my  Lord, 
I  will  not  let  thee  go,  exce]:)t  thou  bless  mc;  and  which  is  so 
forciblv  urged  by  our  blessed  Lord,  upon  his  Apostles  and  all 
his  disciples,  when  he  said,  Ask  and  yc  shall  receive;  and  not 
only  so,  but  seek  and  ye  shall  find:  and  if  you  receive  not  and 
find  not,  after  asking  and  seeking,  then,  kindling  into  more 
glowing  ardours,  knock  until  the  door  is  opened;  for  he  who 
thus  asketh  shall  receive,  he  who  thus  seeketh  shall  find,  and 
to  him  who  thus  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened;  he  shall  receive 
the  Spirit,  he  shall  find  the  Spirit,  and  the  door  of  salvation 
being  opened,  the  plentiful  efTusion  of  the  Spirit  shall  be  poured 
upon  him.  That  this  is  the  blessing  to  which  the  Lord  refers 
is  obvious  from  what  follows;  "If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how 
to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall 
your  heavenly  Father  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
liim."  I  mean  the  prayer  of  solitude,  like  that  of  Peter  on 
the  house-top;  like  that  of  Daniel  wlien  the  angel  Gabriel,  fly- 
ing swiftly,  touched  him  about  the  time  of  the  evening  obla- 
tion, saying,  0,  Daniel,  thou  art  greatly  beloved;  thy  suppli- 
cations are  heard,  and  I  am  come  forth  to  give  thee  skill  and 
understanding.  Understand  the  matter,  therefore,  and  consi- 
der the  vision." 

In  large  public  assemblies,  the  mind  is  so  much  distracted, 
and  the  heart  has  so  much  to  do  with  man,  and  so  little  to  do 
with  God,  I  candidly  confess  that  I  can  hope  little  from  what 
are  called  congregational  prayers.  I  mean  the  secret,  silent, 
solemn  prayer,  that  rises  in  tiie  temple  of  a  heart  that  feels  it- 
self with  God,  and  feels  its  God  in  his  own  temple;  Of  the 
efficacy  of  such  prayers  we  have  many  instances  in  the  holy 
scriptures.  I  mean  the  social  prayer  of  kindred  hearts,  unit- 
ing in  intense  desire  for  some  great  blessing  which  God  has 
promised;  like  that  little  band,  who  continued  with  one  accord 
in  praver  and  supplications,  in  an  upper  room  at  Jerusalem, 
when  suddenly  tiie  Holy  Ghost  descended  from  heaven,  in  a 
visible  form,  and  an  audible  manner,  as  a  mighty  rushing  wind, 
and  became  visible  in  the  shape  of  fire,  which  appearance  di- 
vided itself  into  several  distinct  flames,  and  sat  each  upon  the 
l>eads  of  the  apostles,  who  sj)ake  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them 
utterance.     Tiiese  visible  emblems  of  the  presence  of  the  Di- 


IQQ  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

vine  Majesty  were  attended  with  the  renewinc;,  sanctifying, 
and  saving  influences  of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  And,  oh,  what 
glorious  effects  immediately  followed,  upon  multitudes  of 
Jews  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judea,  and  devout  men  from  every 
nation  under  heaven;  and  when  the  door  of  mercy  in  the  house 
of  Cornelius  was  opened  to  the  Gentile  world,  upon  the  Gen- 
tiles also  was  the  same  Divine  Spirit  poured  in  perhaps  still 
more  abundant  measure,  when  myriads  of  them  pressed  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  and 
from  the  north  and  from  the  south,  to  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob.  Such  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  we  are  warranted  to  expect  at  the  commencement  of  the 
millennial  age;  and  a  more  abundant  effusion  of  his  holy  influ- 
ences than  we  have  ever  yet  witnessed,  is  necessary  to  the  sal- 
vation of  our  country.  For,  until  the  Spirit  is  poured  down 
from  on  high,  even  the  land  of  Emanuel  will,  produce  nothing 
but  thorns  and  briers,  which  are  nigh  unto  cursing,  and  whose 
end  is  to  be  burned.  Pray,  then,  brethren,  without  ceasing; 
pray  in  faith,  keeping  a  firm  hold  of  the  divine  promise;  pray 
in  secret,  enter  into  your  closet,  shut  the  door  upon  you;  and 
pray  to  Him  that  seeth  in  secret,  and  let  your  heart  constantly 
ascend  in  silent,  fervent  supplication,  to  your  father's  throne; 
forsake  not  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together,  for  retired 
social  prayer,  as  many  do,  and  so  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the 
day  approaching.  Arid  remember  that,  while  the  prayers  of 
the  saints  are  ascending  from  the  golden  censer  of  the  inter- 
ceding angel,  the  seals  are  being  opened,  the  vials  are  poured 
out,  the  trumpets  are  pealing  among  the  nations,  and  the  Lord, 
your  Redeemer,  is  pushing  on  his  conquests  of  mercy,  amidst 
the  fall  of  nations  and  empires,  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  of  his  Messiah,  and  he 
shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

The  patrons,  teachers,  and  superintendents  of  Sabbath 
schools,  have  also  an  important  service  to  perform  at  this  criti- 
cal juncture.  Nations  are  composed  of  individuals  and  fami- 
lies; whatever,  therefore,  tends  to  promote  personal  virtue,  and 
domestic  order,  is  a  blessing  to  the  community;  and  as  Sabbath 
schools,  when  properly  conducted,  greatly  facilitate  the  attain- 
ment of  these  objects,  they  are  entitled  to  universal  patronage. 
Their  formation  was  coeval,  or  nearly  so,  with  Missionary  So- 
cieties, which  coincidence  is  a  remarkable  feature  in  the  aspect 
of  the  times.  Their  utility  was  perceived  at  once,  while  the 
most  pleasing  anticipations  were  cherished  of  the  results  which 
it  was  thought  they  would  produce.  It  was  said  that  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  they  would  render  criminal  tribunals, 
penal  statutes,  and  the  office  of  the  executioner,  unnecessary. 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  JQl 

And,  certainly,  they  have  done  much  good,  though  all  our 
pleasing  hopes  are  not  realised.  Serious  objections  have  been 
raised,  and  supported  by  plausible  arguments,  and  are  still 
urged,  with  increased  vehemence,  against  tiie  expediency  of 
educating  the  lower  classes  of  the  community.  It  is  said  that 
learning  tends  to  raise  the  poor  above  the  level  of  their  condi- 
tion; that  it  renders  them  discontented  with  the  allotments  of 
Divine  Providence;  and  what  is  worst  of  all,  tliat  it  furnishes 
them  with  power  to  do  that  mischief  which  they  could  not 
have  done  had  they  been  left  to  their  native  ignorance.  In 
confirmation  of  these  arguments,  they  appeal  to  facts, — men- 
tion numberless  instances  of  juvenile  ofienders,  who  have  been 
educated  in  Sabbath  schools,  and  triumphantly  ask, — Has  not 
juvenile  delinquency  increased,  in  proportion  to  the  increase 
of  Sabbath  schools,  and  juvenile  instruction?  Admitting  all 
this  to  be  correct,  all  arguments  against  the  instruction  of  the 
])oor  may  be  answered  by  one  consideration:  that  God  has 
given  to  man  a  revelation  of  his  will  in  writing;  it  must,  there- 
fore, be  right  to  teach  the  poor  to  read:  to  deny  this,  would  be 
to  impugn  the  wisdom  and  the  goodness  of  the  author  of  that 
revelation.  It  must,  however,  be  conceded,  that  as  man  is 
born  in  sin,  and  conceived  in  iniquity,  to  enlarge  the  capacity 
of  the  human  mind  by  education  is  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of 
depravity,  and  to  increase  the  power  of  doing  evil;  conse- 
quently, that  the  education  of  either  the  higher  or  the  lower 
classes  must  always  be  a  dangerous  experiment;  unless,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  enlargement  of  the  capacity,  and  the  advance  of 
education,  you  can  throw  in  the  correcting  and  restraining 
principles  of  religion  and  morality.  This  is  a  very  serious 
consideration,  and  demands  the  attention,  especially,  of  all  the 
acting  members  of  Sabbath  schools. 

There  are  now  between  ^wo  and  three  millions  of  children 
in  the  schools  belonging  to  the  three  kingdoms,  whose  minds 
are  laid  open,  by  the  teaching  which  they  receive  in  those  in- 
stitutions, to  the  poison  of  Infidelity;  for  if  they  w^ere  not 
taught  to  read  the  Bible,  they  would  not  be  able  to  read  the 
Infidel  and  Atheistical  publications  of  the  day.  This  prodi- 
gious machine  must  operate  with  great  effect,  and  produce 
either  much  good  or  much  evil;  Infidels  are  aware  of  this, 
and,  knowing  that  knowledge  is  power,  they  are  waiting  to 
seize  it,  and  drive  it  with  an  irresistible  impetus,  against  the 
existing  order  of  things.  The  business  of  the  tcacliers  and 
superintendents  of  Sabbath  schools  is  to  keep  hold  of  this  ma- 
chine, and  to  retain  the  direction  of  it  as  long  as  possible.  Let 
it-  be  your  constant  object,  my  dear  brethren,  to  secure  all  the 
good  of  these  excellent  institutionsj  and  guard  against  the 
38^* 


2Q2  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

abuses  to  which  they  are  liable.  For  this  purpose,  labour  to 
impress  upon  the  opening  mind  a  deep  and  an  habitual  sense 
of  the  sacred ness  of  the  Lord's  day.  Nothing  operates  as  a 
more  powerful  restraint  upon  the  evil  passions  of  the  human 
heart,  than  a  holy  reverence  for  the  institutions  of  the  Sab- 
bath; and  nothing  tends  more  to  demoralize  a  nation  profess- 
ing Christianity,  than  to  weaken  and  destroy  that  reverence. 
Suppose  the  Lord's  day  were  levelled  and  made  common  with 
the  other  days  of  the  week,  would  there  be  no  ground  to  fear 
that  religion  and  morality  would  soon  become  extinct?  What- 
ever tends  to  secularize  the  Sabbath  in  the  associations  of  the 
juvenile  mind,  should  be  carefully  avoided.  Teaching  writing 
and  arithmetic  on  the  sacred  hours  of  this  day  has  this  ten- 
dency, and  in  a  thousand  instances  has  been  productive  of  the 
most  pernicious  effects,  by  laying  the  mind  open  to  the  insinu- 
ations, and  preparing  it  to  receive  the  principles,  of  Infidelity. 
Even  teaching  reading  is  a  secular  employment,  and  should 
be  avoided  if  possible;  to  this  end  it  would  be  desirable  to 
establish  week-day  Schools,  in  the  districts  of  the  Sabbath 
Schools,  for  teaching  the  children  to  read,  preparatory  to  their 
receiving  religious  instruction  only  on  the  Lord's  day.  At 
any  rate,  the  whole  time  devoted  to  instruction  should  be  so 
employed  as  to  correspond  with  the  sanctity  of  the  day,  and  to 
make  the  children  see  and  feel,  that  they  are  then  as  much  en- 
gaged in  the  service  df  God,  as  though  they  were  joining  in 
the  public  worship  of  the  sanctuary  in  his  own  house.  Re- 
niember  that  your  schools  are  exclusively  religious  societies; 
they  originated  in  religious  principles;  and  the  inculcation  of 
pure  and  undefilcd  religion  is  their  immediate  and  their  ulti- 
mate object.  If  the  condition  of  the  poor  be  ameliorated,  if 
the  tone  of  public  morals  be  raised,  and  the  vital  interests  of 
the  community  be  advanced,  you  know  how  to  appreciate  these 
blessed  effects,  and  to  whom  the  glory  is  to  be  ascribed:  but  they 
are  not  the  end  you  have  in  view;  they  are  advantages  flowing 
indirectly  from  your  labours  of  love,  but  they  are  not  your 
grand  ultimatum.  They  may  be  compared  to  the  blessings, 
which  a  band  of  angels  may  be  supposed  to  shed  from  their 
wings,  as  they  pass  over  the  regions  of  corruption  and  death, 
bearing  the  heirs  of  immortality  to  the  bosom  of  their  God. 
Like  those  ministering  spirits,  your  eye  must  be  fixed  on  eter- 
nity; like  them  you  labour  for  eternity;  and,  in  the  salvation 
of  the  heirs  of  glory,  your  labours,  like  their's,  will  terminate. 
In  every  child  under  your  instruction,  there  is  a  germ  of  more 
value  than  a  world,  to  be  unfolded  in  eternity,  it  may  be,  into 
the  powers  of  an  angel  of  light.  God  has  sown  the  precious 
seed;  he  has  done  his  part:  pastor,  parent,  teacher,  do  thine, 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  1()3 

and  let  all  remember  that  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  that 
one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish.  Delii^iitful  task,  to  rear 
the  tender  thought;  to  plant  a  fence  around  it,  to  shield  it  from 
the  blast  of  hell;  to  watch  it,  to  water  it,  and  to  superintend 
its  growth,  unfold  its  beauties,  and  ditfuse  its  fragrance  in  the 
heavenly  Paradise.  While  thus  discharging  your  oiTices  of 
love,  lifting  up  your  hearts  to  God  in  fervent  prayer  for  a 
divine  influence,  you  are  rendering  the  most  important  ser- 
vices to  your  country,  and  your  God. 

I  must  now  request  the  attention  of  my  beloved  and  honour- 
ed brethren  in  the  Ministry.  Awful  is  the  responsibility  that 
attaches  to  your  office,  and  to  the  station  which  you  occupy, 
A  watchman  sleeping  on  his  post,  endangers  his  own  life,  and 
the  safety  of  the  citadel.  On  the  vigilance  of  the  military 
watchman  often  depends  the  security  of  the  whole  army,  and, 
under  certain  circumstances,  it  may  be,  the  destiny  of  his 
country.  But  a  charge  of  higher  import  demands  the  atten- 
tion of  the  spiritual  watchman;  to  his  care  is  committed  the 
salvation  of  immortal  souls,  that  must  for  ever  live  in  raptures 
or  in  woe,  and  the  welfare  of  the  church  of  God,  to  whose  in- 
terests the  revolutions  of  states  and  empires  are  subservient. 
Permit  me,  affectionately  and  seriously,  to  remind  you  of  the 
solemn  charge  recorded  in  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  the  pro- 
phecies of  Ezekiel.  "The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  the 
prophet,  saying,  Son  of  Man,  speak  to  the  children  of  thy  peo- 
ple, and  say  unto  them,  when  1  bring  the  sword  upon  the  land, 
if  the  people  of  the  land  take  a  man  of  their  coasts,  and  set 
him  for  their  watchman;  if,  when  he  seeth  the  sword  come 
upon  the  land,  he  blow  the  trumpet,  and  warn  the  people,  then 
whosoever  heareth  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  and  taketh  not 
warning,  if  the  sword  come  and  take  him  off,  his  blood  shall 
be  upon  his  own  head;  but  he  that  taketh  warning  shall  de- 
liver his  own  soul.  But  if  the  watchman  see  the  sword 
come,  and  blow  not  the  trumpet,  and  the  people  be  not-warn- 
ed; if  the  sword  come,  and  take  them  away  in  their  iniquity, 
I  will  require  their  blood  at  the  watchman's  hand.  So  thou, 
0  Son  of  Man,  I  have  set  Thee  as  a  watchman  unto  the  house 
of  Israel;  therefore,  thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth, 
and  warn  them  from  me.  When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  0 
wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die;  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to 
warn  the  wicked  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  sliall  die  ia 
his  iniquity,  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand.  Never- 
theless if  thou  warn  the  wicked  man  of  his  way  to  turn  from 
it;  if  he  do  not  turn  from  his  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity; 
i)ut  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul."  This  solemn  admonition, 
primarily  addressed  to  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  admits  of  an  im- 


JQ4  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

portant  application  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  in  this  coun- 
try, at  the  present  momentous  crisis.  It  rings  an  alarm  in  the 
ears  of  British  pastors,  louder  than  a  peal  of  seven  thunders. 
0  God!  my  heart  fainteth,  my  flesh  trembleth,  because  of  thy 
judgments.  Let  not  thy  indignation  kindle  against  us,  nor  thy 
terrible  glory  make  us  afraid,  but  let  the  light  of  thy  counte- 
nance shine  upon  us,  and  pour  into  our  hearts  the  softening 
and  the  purifying, influences  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  may 
both  save  ourselves,  and  them  that  hear  us,  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake,  Amen. 

Finally,  in  order  to  escape  the  calamities  with  which  we  are 
threatened,  fialional  repentance  and  reformation  are  indispensa- 
bly necessary.  Individuals  must  be  duly  affected  with  a  sense 
of  their  personal  transgressions.  A  nation  is  a  society  of  in- 
dividuals, united  by  one  form  of  government,  and  by  the  same 
code  of  laws.  Of  such  a  society,  every  individual  is  a  con- 
stituent member;  we  cannot,  therefore,  think  of  national  sins, 
without  viewing  them  as  committed  by  the  persons  of  whom 
the  nation  is  composed.  They  become  national,  when  perpe- 
trated by,  or  acceded  to,  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  or 
at  least,  by  the  leading  part  of  the  nation.  When  this  is  the 
case,  every  man,  except  so  far  as  he  does  his  utmost  to  check 
their  progress,  is  concerned  in  the  guilt,  and  exposed  to  the 
punishment.  Therefore,  when  the  Lord  calls  a  nation,  groan- 
ing under  public  calamities,  or  threatened  with  still  heavier 
judgments,  to  repentance  and  reformation,  and  prescribes  the 
nature  of  that  repentance  which  he  will  accept;  he  declares  that 
"they  shall  be  on  the  mountains,  like  doves  of  the  vallies,  all 
of  them  mourning,  every  one  for  his  own  iniquity."* 

Nor  is  it  sufficient,  that  individuals  view  their  own  iniqui- 
ties as  contributing  to  the  accumulation  of  the  general  guilt. 
Every  man  ought  to  consider  the  active  hand  which  he  has 
had,  in  conjunction  with  others,  in  the  national  trespasses.  Can 
we  really  view  the  rejection  of  the  gospel,  as  a  national  ini- 
quity, without  being  conscious  of  our  partnership  in  this  fear- 
ful guilt,  by  our  perversion  and  abuse  of  this  high  and  sacred 
privilege,  by  our  unbelief  and  impenitence  under  this  glorious 
dispensation  of  grace  and  mercy?  Can  we  sincerely  lament 
them  ournful  prevalence  of  every  species  of  iniquity,  without 
remembering  how  little  we  have  done  to  stem  the  torrent,  by 
our  fervent  prayers,  faithful  warnings,  and  holy  example?  The 
God  of  nations,  the  searcher  of  hearts,  condemns  all  profes- 
sions of  public  repentance,  as  deceitful  and  unacceptable  to  him, 
if  they  are  not  attended  with  this  personal  contrition.  "I 
hearkened  and  heard,  but  they  spake  not  aright,  no  man  re- 
*  Ezekiel  vii.  10. 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  105 

pented  him  of  his  own  wickedness,  saving,  alas!   what  have  I 
done?"* 

An  united  and  public  confession  of  national  sins,  by  all  orders 
of  the  community,  is  also  required.  Therefore,  when  the 
JNIost  High  would  reduce  his  apostate  and  rebellious  people  to 
])enitence,  he  commands  that  all  ranks  of  persons  should  meet 
in  a  solemn  assembly  for  confession,  humiliation,  and  prayer. 
"Gather  the  people,  sanctify  the  congregation,  assemble  the 
elders,  gather  tlie  children,  and  those  tliat  suck  the  breast. 
Let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  weep  between  the 
porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say,  spare  thy  people,  0  Lord, 
and  give  not  thy  heritage  to  reproach."!  Thus  Nehemiah,  in 
the  midst  of  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  particularly 
confessed  the  guilt  of  persons  of  all  ranks  in  Israel.  "Neither 
have  our  kings,  our  princes,  our  priests,  nor  our  fathers  kept 
thy  law,  nor  hearkened  unto  thy  commandments,  and  thy 
testimonies,  wherewith  thou  didst  testify  against  them.  For 
they  have  not  served  thee  in  their  kingdom,  and  in  thy  great 
goodness  that  thou  gavest  them,  and  in  the  large  and  fruitful 
land  whicli  thou  gavest  before  them,  neither  turned  they  from 
their  wicked  works."i 

This  united  and  public  humiliation,  for  the  sins  of  all  orders 
of  the  community,  must  be  attended  with  the  confession  of 
former  iniquities,  or  the  iniquities  of  our  fathers.  We  become 
heirs  of  the  guilt  of  our  ancestors,  by  our  own  personal  trans- 
gressions, by  continuing  in  the  practice  of  the  same  sins,  or  of 
others  that  resemble  them.  In  this  case,  "we  sin  with  our 
fathers;  or,  like  them,  we  prove  a  stifl'necked  and  rebellious 
race."  National  sin  is  represented,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  a 
swelling  tide,  which  rises  higher  and  higher,  by  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  children  adding  to  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers. 
"Our  iniquities  are  increased  over  our  heads."  It  is  compared 
to  the  growth  of  a  poisonous  tree,  which  becomes  taller  and 
stronger  every  year,  till  at  length  it  hides  its  top  in  tbccl-ouds: 
— "Our  trespass  is  grown  up  unto  the  heavens. "§  When  chil- 
dren walk  in  the  steps  of  their  fathers,  the  guilt  is  accumulated, 
and  the  cry  for  vengeance  waxes  louder  and  louder.  This 
augmentation  of  national  guilt  is  represented  by  the  growth  of 
man,  from  infancy  to  maturity;  or  described,  at  least,  as  some- 
thing growing  up  with  him.  In  this  manner,  the  guilt  of  a 
nation  is  fearfully  augmented  by  the  active  rebellion  of  one 
generation  after  another: — "We  have  sinned  against  the  Lord 
our  God,"  saith  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  "we  and  our  fathers, 
from  our  youth  up  even  unto  this  day. "||     The  guilt  of  chil- 

"*  Jeremiah  viii.  6.  -  t  Joel  ii.  10,  17.      *  Xehemiali  ix.  31,  35,      §  Ezra  i.v.  G. 
li  Jeremiah  iii.  25. 


IQQ  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

dren  is  more  aggravated  than  that  of  their  fathers,  if  they  con- 
tinue in  the  same  ungodly  courses,  hecause  the  conduct  of 
their  fathers  is  held  up  to  them  as  a  beacon,  to  deter  them  from 
following  their  wicked  example.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
"Behold  it  is  written  before  me,  I  will  not  keep  silence,  but 
wmII  recompense,  even  recompense  into  their  bosom,  your  ini- 
quities and  the  iniquities  of  your  fathers  together."  But  why 
recompense  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  into  the  bosom  of  their 
ofispring?  Because  they  continued  in  the  same  sins: — "Your 
fathers  have  burnt  incense  upon  the  mountains,  and  ye  have 
blasphemed  me  upon  the  hills,  therefore  will  I  measure  their 
work  into  your  bosom."*  Thus  our  Lord  informs  the  Phari- 
sees, in  a  passage  which  we  have  before  cited,  that  by  rejecting 
the  gospel  and  persecuting  his  Apostles,  they  would  fill  up  the 
measure  of  their  fathers'  iniquity,  and  bring  upon  themselves 
all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the  blood  of 
righteous  Abel  to  the  blood  of  Zacharias,  whom  they  slew  be- 
tween the  porch  and  the  altar. 

An  united  and  cordial  application  by  faith  and  penitence,  to 
the  great  atonement  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  also  indispensable; 
this  is  intimated  to  us  by  the  typical  ordinance  of  the  great  day 
of  atonement.  In  the  solemnities  of  that  day,  the  High  Priest 
was  to  lay  both  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  typical  victim, 
and  confess  over  him  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  all  their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins,  putting  them  upon 
the  head  of  the  goat,  and  to  send  him  away  into  the  wilder- 
ness. Thus  a  whole  community  ought  not  only  to  confess  their 
transgressions,  but,  in  the  exercise  of  faith  and  penitence,  to 
transfer  them  over  to  him,  who  is  the  propitiation  for  the  sins 
of  a  whole  world,  and  who  was  typified  and  prefigured  by  all 
the  sacrifices  of  that  solemn  day,  that  they  might  be  no  more 
remembered.  Such  is  the  evangelical  nature  of  that- repen- 
tance which  will  characterize  the  Jewish  nation  in  the  last  day, 
or  at  the  time  of  the  end,  after  their  restoration  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers;  and  which  is  so  beautifully  described  by  the 
prophet  Zechariah.  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  suppli- 
cation. And  they  sliall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced, 
(and  has  not  Britain  pierced  and  crucified  him  afresh?)  and 
they  shall  mourn  for  him  as  one  mourncth  for  his  only  son, 
and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for  him  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness 
for  his  first-born.  In  that  day,  there  shall  be  a  great  mourn- 
ing in  Jerusalem,  as  the  mourning  of  lladadrimmon  in  the 
valley  of  Megiddon.  And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every  family 
*  Isaiah  Ixv.  G,  7. 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  107 

apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  David  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart;  the  family  of  Shemei  apart,  and  their  wives  apart;  all 
the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart. 

National  repentance  must  be  followed  by  national  reforma- 
tion: all  repentance  without  this  is,  in  the  language  of  scrip- 
ture, holding  fast  deceit,  and  refusing  to  return.  Observe  once 
more,  that  this  is  the  only  possible  way  of  obtaining  either  de- 
liverance from  the  judgments  with  which  we  are  threatened,  or 
an  alleviation  of  our  punishment.  Thus  the  Lord  speaks  by 
the  prophet  Jeremiah:  "If  so  be  they  will  hearken,  and  turn 
every  man  from  his  evil  way,  that  I  may  repent  me  of  the  evil 
which  I  proposed  to  do  unto  them,  because  of  the  evil  of  their 
doings."*  Indeed,  the  Lord  is  so  full  of  compassion,  and  so 
unwilling  to  destroy,  that  he  hath  often  averted  impending 
judgments  from  a  guilty  people,  when  their  reformation  was 
only  of  an  external  kind.  Although  the  penitence  of  the  Nine- 
vites  was  only  outward  and  transient,  like  the  morning  cloud 
and  the  early  dew  that  passeth  away,  yet  the  Lord  spared 
them.  God  saw  their  works;  "that  they  turned  from  their 
evil  way;  and  God  repented  him  of  the  evil  that  he  said  he 
would  do  unto  them,  and  he  did  it  not."t  But  this  kind  of 
reformation  is  not  attended  by  a  removal  of  the  Lord's  indig- 
nation. He  may  suspend  the  stroke,  but  he  does  not  avert  it 
altogether.  "For  all  this,  his  anger  is  not  turned  away,"  says 
the  prophet,  *'but  his  hand  is  stretched  out  still."  The  punish- 
ment is  not  remitted;  it  is  only  suspended  for  a  time;  and,  we 
may  add,  the  longer  judgments  are  delayed,  the  heavier  will  be 
the  visitation.  Thus  it  is  declared,  "If  ye  will  not  be  reform- 
ed by  these  things,  but  will'walk  contrary  unto  me,  then  will 
I  also  walk  contrary  unto  you,  and  will  punish  you  seven  times 
for  your  iniquities.":|:  "Although  an  individual  or  a  nation 
break  off  their  sins  by  an  outward  righteousness,  and  their  ini- 
quity by  shewing  mercy  to  the  poor,  yet  it  is  only  a  lengthen- 
ing out  of  their  tranquillity. "§  This  was  the  case  with  Nineveh, 
and  its  guilty  inhabitants.  For  although  the  JNIost  High 
sjjarcd  the  city  at  that  time,  when  they  outwardly  repented  at 
the  preaching  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  yet  he  destroyed  it  not 
long  after,  as  was  particularly  foretold  in  the  prophecies  of 
Nahum.  Such  is  the  nature  of  that  repentance  and  reforma- 
tion, which  affords  the  only  ground  to  hope  for  the  preservation 
of  our  country,  amidst  the  wreck  of  nations  which  will  cer- 

*  Jeremiah  xxvi.  3.  t  Jonah  iii.  10.  t  Leviticus  xxvi- 23. 

§  Daniel  iv.  27. 


IQg  THE  DESTINIES  OF 

tainly  precede  the  Millennium.  If  such  a  moral  regeneration 
of  the  empire  should  be  effected  as  that  which  the  Sovereign 
of  the  world  demands,  before  he  repents  of  the  evil  which  he 
has  threatened,  and  withdraws  the  denunciation  of  his  wrath; 
if  the  fatal  chain  that  links  her  destiny  to  that  of  the  Papal 
empire  should  be  completely  severed;  and  if  Britain  should  be 
brought  to  bow  to  the  sceptre  of  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords,  she  may  then  survive  the  general  overthrow,  and, 
though  her  chastisements  may  be  severe,  she  may  yet  be  hon- 
oured as  the  grand  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Providence  to 
accomplish  the  purposes  of  eternal  love  and  mercy  to  a  guilty 
world.  If  not,  the  decree  is  past,  and  her  ruin  is  irrevocably 
sealed.  Let  every  man,  therefore,  be  active  in  the  station 
where  God  has  placed  him,  in  promoting  the  reformation  of 
others  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  authority,  his  influence,  and 
his  example.  Should  the  nation  still  continue  impenitent  and 
obdurate  in  wickedness,  yet,  as  individuals  professing  to  wit- 
ness against  the  defections,  both  of  former  and  of  present  times, 
let  us  return  unto  the  Lord  by  searching  out  every  man  the 
plague  of  his  own  heart,  and  saying,  in  deep  contrition,  what 
have  I  done?  Thus  you  will,  at  least,  deliver  your  own  souls, 
and  the  Lord  will  spare  you  in  the  day  of  public  calamity. 
Be  also  earnest  in  prayer,  that  he  may  bring  others  to  repent- 
ance, that  he  may  turn  the  nation  to  himself,  rending  their 
hearts  and  not  their  garments,  and  that  he  may  turn  from  the 
fierceness  of  his  anger.  Pray  that  the  Lord  may  give  you  the 
same  spirit  which  animated  and  melted  the  weeping  prophet, 
and  that  his  language  miay  be  really  yours:  "Oh,  that  my  head 
were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might 
weep  day  and  night  for  the  sins  of  the  daughter  of  my  people." 
Thus  will  you  enjoy  the  blessedness  and  protection  of  those 
who  sigh  and  cry  for  the  abominations  that  are  done  in  the 
land,  and  on  whose  foreheads  the  protecting  angel  has  affixed 
the  seal  of  the  living  God. 

To  conclude, — AH  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  prophets  of  the  Apocalypse,  close  their  commissions,  and 
take  their  leave  of  the  church  of  God,  amidst  tlie  glories  of  the 
Millennium:  and  amidst  these  glories  I  would  close  these  lec- 
tures, and  take  my  leave  of  you,  my  dear  brethren,  this 
evening.  This  is  the  restitution  of  all  things  of  which  all  the 
prophets  have  spoken  since  the  world  began,  and  of  which 
transported  in  the  visions  of  the  Almighty  through  revolving 
ages  to  this  l)lcsscd  consummation,  and  seeing  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  own  predictions,  sung  in  strains  of  heavenly 
harmony;  to  which  the  rise  and  fall,  the  convulsions  and  revo- 
lutions, of  kingdoms  and  empires,  arc  all  subordinate,  and  in 


THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE.  JQQ 

which  they  will  all  terminate;  for  which  all  nature  stands, — 
the  sun  rules  the  day,  and  the  moon  and  stars  govern  the 
night,  the  earth  performs  its  annual  and  diurnal  course,  the 
tide  ebhs  and  flows,  and  the  stars  of  heaven  move  in  their  re- 
spective spheres;  for  which  the  whole  creation,  laden  with  the 
bondage  of  human  corruption,  says  the  apostle,  '"groans  and 
travails  in  pain  together  until  now;"  and  for  which  the  Divine 
Majesty  became  incarnate,  veiled  his  glory,  died,  rose  again, 
and  ascended  in  human  nature  to  the  throne  of  supreme  and 
universal  dominion,  to  direct,  control,  and  overrule,  all  events, 
until  the  mystery  of  God  is  finished  and  unfolded.  Then  the 
Lord  of  hosts  himself  shall  reign  upon  mount  Zion,  and  in  Je- 
rusalem, before  his  ancients  gloriously.  The  light  of  the  moon 
shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  light  of  one  day  shall 
be  the  light  of  seven  days;  the  veil  shall  be  removed  from 
the  heart  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  the  death-covering  from 
the  face  of  all  nations — Jews  and  Gentiles,  turning  to  the  Lord, 
as  the  heart  of  one  man,  shall  behold  his  glory,  and  be  changed 
into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  and  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  his  glory;  heavenly  love,  and 
peace,  and  harmony,  shall  reign  in  every  bosom;  discord  shall 
cease  among  individuals,  and  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more; 
"all  seasons  shall  be  Avoven  into  one,  and  that  one  season  an 
eternal  spring;  the  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall  feed 
together,  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox,  the  sucking  child 
shall  play  with  the  asp,  the  weaned  child  shall  run  in  and  out 
of  the  cockatrice  den;  they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  this 
holy  mountain,  or  empire  of  love,  for  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea. 

Oh,  how  mine  eyes  long  to  see  the  wonders  of  that 
day!  Arise,  oh,  King  of  Grace,  arise!  Gird  thy  sword 
upon  thy  thigh,  oh  most  Mighty,  with  thy  glory  an'd 

MAJESTY,  ascend  THY  CHARIOT  OF  SALVATION,  AND  RIDE  ON 
prosperously,  BECAUSE  OF  MEEKNESS,  TRUTH,  AND  RIGHTE- 
OUSNESS; MAKE  THE  NATIONS  WILLING  IN  THE  DAY  OF  THY 
power;  GO  FORTH  FROM  CONQUERING,  STILL  TO  CONQUER, 
UNTIL  THY  LOYAL  SUBJECTS  SURPASS  IN  NUMBER  AND  IN  BRIL- 
LIANCY   THE    DROPS    OF  MORNING    DEW.        CoME,   LoKD    JeSUS, 

co-AiE  quickly;  why  does  my  Lord  delay  his  coming?  Why 

TARRY    THE   WHEELS    OF    HIS    CHARIOT?       BeHOLD,   SAITH   THE 

Lord,  I  come  quickly.  Amen.  Even  so  come,  Lord 
Jesus. 

vofc.  II. — 39 


,;i;i;:i 


hk^i 


